Love Despite of Destiny
by Skypoint1
Summary: Modern University AU. 18 year old Merlin Emrys has just moved into his new student flat at Camelot halls. While he's there he must juggle his studies, new friends and a budding romance with the ever increasing burden of a destiny he is just only becoming aware of. One thing is for certain: the future of all magic in the United Kingdoms now rests on his shoulders... Merlin/Mordred
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, I literally haven't written creatively for going on 4 years now since my GCSE days, but recently I've been finding myself getting quite frustrated with the serious lack of Merlin/Mordred fanfiction.

I personally love this pairing and so I have decided to try and see if I have any of the old creative juices left in writing my first ever attempt at fanfiction. I am going to be extremely busy over the next couple of months, however I have surprised myself at how much I enjoyed writing the first chapter and so hopefully it can be something I do as a hobby when I'm having some time off my studies. J

I do not own any of the characters or names unless stated otherwise.

Chapter 1 – On the floor again.

Merlin opened the door to flat 101 with his elbow; barely managing to keep hold of his keys, a rolled up duvet and a very battered old case full of what felt like his entire wardrobe.

"Of all the days for the lift to be out of order, why on _earth_ did it have to be today?" he panted, whilst awquardly shuffling into the hallway, "Oh, and the twenty flights of stairs? Seriously? Were they hoping I'd die on the climb up here so they can just rent the flat out again to someone else?"

As first impressions go, the deep blue carpet and crisply painted white walls of the hallway suggested this wasn't the typical squat-like accommodation most new students were told to expect. It actually had a reasonably modern air about it, which as Camelot Halls had only been built a few years ago due to a generous donation from one Uther Pendragon, was hardly surprising.

"Oh hush now Merlin," laughed Hunith - his mother, "Always with the dramatics!"

"You won't be saying that when you have to take me the hospital with a dislocated shoulder," he grinned looking back at her.

Of course being that he, Merlin Emrys, just so happened to be just over 6ft tall, ridiculously slim and considerably lacking in any form of balance whatsoever, this then presented the perfect opportunity for the duvet he was holding to get caught on the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall beside him.

This was the first instance in which Merlin found himself lying on the hallway floor of flat 101, squinting angrily at the bright spotlights shining down on him.

"Oh really Merlin," sighed Hunith, her mouth twitching as she fought back a smile, "This has to be a new record even for you! What was that: 5...10 seconds before you were flat on the floor?"

She carefully trod over a scowling Merlin and picked his keys off the floor where he had flung them as he fell.

"Well then... looks like we're looking for room D... which is just here!"

She eagerly fitted the key into the lock and wandered into Merlin's new room, the door closing behind her.

"Well I'll just stay down here then shall I?" shouted Merlin, to which he received no response. Groaning as he forced himself to his feet, he mentally took check of the various aches and throbs of his head and limbs. Well, nothing was broken, which today seemed a small mercy.

He picked up his case and duvet, whilst glaring angrily at the fire extinguisher (_Why was it even there, it's not like they would ever need to use it?!)_ before shuffling to the door of his new room and venturing inside.

"Thanks for the help mum!" he spluttered upon making it into the room and dropping his cargo to the floor.

Hunith; a kind, motherly looking woman, with greying light brown hair swept quickly into a bun and blue eyes sparkling with warmth - so much like his own; turned from admiring the sea view out of the window, to place her hands on her hips and echo in a scarily accurate mimic of his own voice – "Oh come on Mum, I'm 18 years old and going to university; I can look after myself!"

"Okay, okay!" laughed Merlin, flinging himself down onto the lumpy looking single mattress that would be his bed for the next year, "I admit that I did indeed say that and I promise not to moan in future, as long as you don't do that voice ever again!"

"Not even in front of any potential boyfriends you may bring home in the future?" she winked.

"Especially in front of a boyfriend or any other general friends for that matter... or even complete strangers!"

Hunith tutted and rolled her eyes comically, "You certainly know how to close all the loopholes and ruin a mother's fun don't you Merlin? Are you sure you shouldn't be studying Law instead of English Literature?"

"I'm definitely sure" he laughed, "God knows it's the only thing I do actually have any talent for! Well apart from the other thing-"

"-Yes that other thing which we both agreed you wouldn't even mention when attending this university," interjected Hunith, her voice hushed and all traces of mirth vanished from her expression, to be replaced by worry and urgency. "You are a student at Camelot University Merlin, which just so happens to be heavily invested in by Uther Pendra –"

"Mum I know!" Merlin exclaimed, jumping up from the bed and running to pull his mother into a hug. "I promise that I won't mention it, or let anyone see me using it. I'll just be normal old Merlin; Mum please don't worry."

Hunith took a few shuddering breaths as she fought to withhold her tears, before prising herself away from her son and giving a shaky smile. She swept his jet black hair out of his eyes and clicked her tongue in mock annoyance.

"Really Merlin you desperately need a haircut; why you couldn't just let me do it I don't know."

Merlin sighed, partially out of relief he had managed to avoid yet another of his mother's wave of university centred anxiety rants and also out of remembrance of what was commonly referred to in his household as the bowl-cut incident. Needless to say this involved a pair of kitchen scissors, a dessert bowl, an unfortunate sneeze by Hunith, a mirror and a mortified expression of Merlin's.

"Now getting a haircut is _really_ something that I can manage on my own now Mum, I'll get to a barber's tomorrow"

Hunith choked out a laugh before straightening her coat and placing her hands on Merlin's shoulders.

"Right, well seeing as we have established that you are in fact a grown (ish) man now at university, I will leave you to it. I'm sure you don't want your old mum cramping your style when your new flat mates arrive"

"Urgh, way to guilt trip me mum" laughed Merlin, pulling her in for yet another hug "But now we're here... I actually really don't want you to go... could you not sleep under my bed and then you can come out and help with my laundry every now and again?"

Hunith pushed her son away slightly and looked up at him, her expression horrified, "And have to listen to all sorts should you bring a lucky chap home one night? What do you young people call it these days... Dogging?"

Now it was Merlin's turn to look horrified. "NO MUM! Oh no no no! Dogging is so not the right word!"

"Hmmm... well that explains why Will looked so mortified when I was speaking to him about it the other day..."

Merlin blanched at this and looked at his mother in disbelief "... Mum, _why_ were you talking – Actually I don't want to know!" He brought his hands to his ears and began humming the theme tune to Eastenders.

His self inflicted isolation was cut short by a chuckling Hunith prising his hands away from his ears, before giving him a kiss on the cheek and one final hug.

"Now I must really be going if I'm to catch the next train back to Ealdor," she said gently, "But I want you to promise me that you will text or call me anytime, anywhere, should you need me... or especially if someone finds out about your... talents."

"I promise mum," whispered Merlin.

Hunith smiled one last time before heading towards the door.

"I've packed you enough food to last you tonight and breakfast tomorrow, but you'll have to fend for yourself in the supermarket after that... and I love you Merlin, please, please keep yourself safe."

"I will Mum, don't worry. I'll be fine... and I love you too."

One last quick smile from Hunith and she was gone.

Merlin was alone in Camelot Halls.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – An Old Pair of Sneakers.

It didn't take him long to unpack – apart from a pitiful collection of shirts and jeans, his underwear, a few select choices of dvds , his laptop, books and a couple of posters, there really wasn't much else which he had felt he needed to bring. He took his bag of toiletries and put them in his en-suite bathroom (he was so happy when he found out that he didn't have to share) before standing and staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. A stereotypical pasty Irish boy stared back at him, his narrow face and sharp cheek bones framed by his jet black hair (his mum was right, it **was** getting too long) and a pair of quite prominent ears. Most noticeable of all of course, was his piercing blue eyes – admittedly his favourite personal feature. He didn't consider himself to be conventionally good looking, however wherever he went he did seem to attract a lot of attention. Turning off the light with a sigh, he walked back into his room whilst running a hand through his hair.

Right, so unpack stuff - check

Make sure the mirror doesn't hate you today - check

Now what?

At the risk of the silence starting to get to him, he sat down on his freshly made bed and began playing his favourite band - _The Wyverns_ out loud on his laptop. Well at least this way when the others move in then they'll know someone's already here.

He lay back on his bed and closed his eyes and began thinking about what his new flat mates would be like. What if they don't like him? What if he doesn't like them? What if they're those really annoying people who leave their washing up by the sink for days on end so little bits of mould start to grow on the plates?

As it turned out, he didn't have to wait long to find out. It seemed that due to his music, he had failed to notice the front door to the flat opening and four new voices making an entrance.

Therefore when there was a loud knock at his door, Merlin was caught completely unaware and practically died of fright. Jumping out of bed, he rushed to the door, flattening his hair down nervously.

On the other side of the door he came face to face with a kind looking girl with dark hair and skin, honey-brown eyes and one of the most excited expressions he thought he had ever seen.

'Hi!" she squeaked, "I'm Gwen, I'm in room C just opposite you! What's your name? What are you studying? Have you met anyone else in the flat yet? Oh I'm sorry I've jabbering, it happens when I'm excited!"

Merlin just stared dumbstruck; his eyebrows raised higher than even perhaps his uncle Gaius could manage. It was only when Gwen started to look at him in a slightly concerned manner that he jumped to his senses.

"Hi sorry, I'm Merlin," he grinned offering his hand, which she shook vigorously, "I'm studying English Lit and no I haven't met anyone else yet; I thought I was the first one here!"

"Oooh English Lit, very nice" she exclaimed, "I'm taking Biology, goodness knows why, and I'm afraid we beat you to it! There's me (obviously) and also Lance in A, Arthur in B and Morgana in F. They're all in the kitchen at the moment though."

Merlin laughed and put his hand to his forehead in mock embarrassment "And there I was thinking I was special!" He paused, doing the calculations in this head. "Hang on; these flats have room for six people don't they? So who's the sixth person?"

Gwen gave a shrug, "No idea, so far we haven't seen anyone else so we're just presuming that they haven't moved in yet. Anyway...," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him in the direction of the kitchen, "You really need to meet the others, they're really lovely I promise... well Lance and Morgana are, but don't worry about Arthur, his pride's a little wounded that's all!"

Merlin didn't even get the chance to ask why Arthur's pride had been wounded, before Gwen had burst into the kitchen with him in tow, to be greeted by the 3 others sitting on some rather miserable looking grey communal sofas.

The rest of the kitchen looked amazing however, with a stylish beech wood and silver metal finish that made it look like it had been practically copied from an interior design catalogue.

A tall, elegant looking girl with pale alabaster skin, clear blue eyes and long jet black hair styled immaculately was the first to speak as she jumped up from sitting to embrace him in a polite hug.

"Oh aren't you just adorable!" she simpered, "I'm Morgana by the way, although I'm sure you already guessed that from the lovely Gwen here."

"Err... Hi?" said Merlin, hoping his alarm at being hugged by a stranger wasn't too obvious in his expression, "I'm Merlin, Merlin Emrys."

"Ignore her," came a bored sounding voice from the sofa, "My dear sister has always struggled with appreciating the personal space of others."

Looking at the source of the voice, Merlin was immediately impressed by his god-like hotness; golden blonde hair, a chiselled jaw line, blue eyes and a tanned muscled body which was blatantly struggling to burst through his fitted designer t-shirt.

"Oh quiet you!" snapped Morgana, before turning back to Merlin, "Don't worry about Arthur, he's just a little cranky that he's being forced to share a flat with me this year."

"God have mercy!" groaned Arthur holding his head in his hands, "I need a drink – Anyone have any teabags?"

There was a general muttering of 'no' before Arthur jumped up to his feet, "Well then excuse me ladies, but I'm going to get out of here and go to the supermarket before I stab Morgana to death; Lance, you coming?"

The handsome dark haired man who must have been Lance gave a small shy smile to Merlin before looking up at Arthur, "Yeah I might as well, I haven't got anything in."

Both men made to walk past the other three in the kitchen, before Arthur stopped and stared in horror at the worn out sneakers on Merlin's feet, "What the hell are they? Did you find them in a skip somewhere?"

Oh great – hot yet a total twat

"No" frowned Merlin, "They're just well loved that's all"

Arthur snorted in amusement, rolling his eyes at Lance, "Or in other words you can't afford to buy new ones?"

"There's no need to be such a prat," remarked Merlin, his eyebrows raised in distaste.

Arthur's grin vanished immediately to be replaced by an expression of extreme irritation, "Do you know who I am?" he demanded, "You really can't talk to me like that."

"He can talk to you however he likes," interjected Morgana, her tone warning, "Especially if you deserve it, now bugger off and get your teabags!"

Arthur humphed in annoyance before striding out of the kitchen, whilst Lance gave Merlin an apologetic clap on the shoulder before following after him.

"Don't worry about Arthur," said Gwen giving Merlin's hand a small squeeze, "He's already expressed his immense dislike of my entire DVD collection so far this morning. But Morgana has assured me that he's a really nice guy once you get to know him."

"He's a selfish idiot at times," contributed Morgana, a pained smile flashing across her face, "But he has a good heart, which I'm sure you'll come to see soon enough."

Merlin chuckled awquardly, "Well I certainly hope you're right, otherwise this is going to be one hell of a year!"

Morgana laughed freely, a mischievous glint in her eye, "Oh there won't be a problem, not unless Arthur wants me to tell Uther all about it!"

Merlin could practically feel all the colour draining from his face, "You... you know Uther Pendragon?" he squeaked.

"Well I'd certainly hope so!" sniggered Morgana, whilst picking at a loose thread on her Burberry coat, "He is my father after all!"

This couldn't be happening to him; there must be some mistake! Why him? Why did he have to be sharing a flat with the only two children of Uther Pendragon?

"Now what was this about a DVD collection Gwen?" asked Morgana, completely oblivious to Merlin's world falling apart inside him, "I'd love to have a look if you don't mind and I can assure you I have a much better taste than Arthur!"

"Oh of course Morgana," Gwen enthused, "I've got loads of Rom Coms which I know you'd just love! ...Merlin are you coming?"

Merlin's eyes darted up to Gwen's slightly concerned expression before he forced himself to smile cheerily, "I think I'll pass thanks, I've still got a bit of unpacking to do and besides, romantic comedies are really not my thing!"

Gwen laughed as she and Morgana made their way to the door, "I can promise you now that by the end of the year you will be a full on Rom Com addict! We'll probably see you in a bit then; we'll knock for you when we've finished!"

With one last wave from Morgana, the girls left the kitchen, giggling and chatting down the hallway, until Merlin heard Gwen's door open and close before silence fell once more.

Morgana and Arthur Pendragon. _Shit._

Uther Pendragon was the head of Camelot Court – A multibillion dollar law firm with roots spreading across the entire globe. It was also widely known that he was heavily involved in the government, mainly within the current campaign to persecute and arrest those 'dangerous' individuals who possessed magic.

The AUA, that is the Academic University of Albion, was one of the finest universities in the United Kingdoms, so fine in fact, that Uther himself was a student here in his youth. Generally the only students who really stood a chance of even getting a place here were those from well off or influential families, however it just so happened that Merlin was from neither.

Due to recent bills passed by government, all universities now had to accept a certain proportion of state schooled students, which meant that a hefty grant and student loan had allowed working class Merlin Emrys, a straight A student, to be accepted into this fine institute. It was just extremely unfortunate then that he had possessed unusually potent magic since birth and that the AUA was now also possibly the most dangerous place for him to be in the entire country.

And now it seemed, to top it all off, he was to be living with the two people who were more close to Uther than probably anyone else in the world! _Shit, shit, SHIT!_

Should he ring Hunith? And tell her what exactly? He really didn't want her to worry any more than she was already. Besides, how did the old saying go?

Keeps your friends close but keep your enemies closer?

Surely by being so close to Morgana and Arthur, it meant he would hear far more about Uther's actions and so he would much better prepared should conditions for those with magic become even worse?

Right okay, so all he had to do was act normal and no one would suspect a thing.

Simple.

Needless to say he was well and truly fucked.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – That niggling feeling

Right okay... normal...normal... Well standing in a kitchen with a petrified expression on his face could hardly be the definition of normality. On the other hand, other people looking terrified when he attempted to cook anything more sophisticated than Spaghetti Bolognese was admittedly fairly common.

Merlin could feel the anxiety stirring in his stomach, like his intestines were full of rats and his heart was beating so fast it felt as though it could burst from his chest. It was ridiculous that he was feeling so scared; he knew what he was getting into when he accepted the university offer, albeit he had pictured his flat with considerably less Pendragon presence.

No, he was definitely overreacting. Nobody so far suspected a thing and as long as he didn't do anything overly stupid, then with any luck nobody ever would. With some effort and slow breathing, the chaos in his stomach calmed and his heartbeat slowed to a more acceptable and less manic pace.

He was fine and he was safe, that was enough for now.

Upon finally coming to his senses, he made the decision to retreat to the solitude of his room, so as to ensure he was fully composed before the girls came looking for him again. He walked swiftly and quietly to the kitchen door and carefully pulled it open, so as not to alert anyone of his movements. As he crept along the hallway (definitely not humming the theme to Mission Impossible in his head), he could hear animated laughter from behind Gwen's door and with it came the relief that his brief episode of panic had gone unnoticed.

This thought was wiped from his mind however, as he came to walk past the door to room E, just before his own. It was as though the world had suddenly become silent and he was overwhelmed with a feeling of nausea such as that he had never felt before in his life. He attempted to move so as to lean against the wall to his side, only for his limbs to feel heavy and useless.

What was happening? Why couldn't he move?

...And then it hit him.

The loneliness. The terrible, terrible loneliness.

His mind felt so vast and so empty, as though he was missing something that up until now had been a constant; keeping his conscious and his inner voice contained. He'd never thought it was possible to feel so isolated and yet so unrestricted at the same time. He cast his mind around franticly; searching for anything, anything at all that could explain to him what was going on. Then, as the loneliness seemed to increase to an intolerable level, it was as though his consciousness collided with an immense veil so bright and with such a vibrant ocean colour, that the room around him seemed drained and bleak in contrast. The veil paled, seeming to convulse and warp in alarm, shifting and writhing as though recoiling in an attempt to protect itself, before pulsating outwards at a frightening rate, propelling his mind backwards until with a strangled yelp, the world normalised around him. The nausea and loneliness had vanished as quickly as they had appeared and he once again was confined to the reassuring solitude of his own head.

He collapsed to the floor, silently gasping and clutching at the blue carpet of the hallway. This was the second time he found himself on the hallway floor to flat 101. Straining his ears to detect any signs of attack, he could hear only the girls still chattering happily in discussion over Bridget Jones' Diary.

But then... no that wasn't all... Crawling closer to the closed door of room E, he could hear another sound, another person, a man, gasping in a similar manner to himself. Gathering his still returning strength, he forced himself into standing and wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his brow. His arm seemed to move independently of his thought and before he had even registered he was actually moving, he had knocked gently against the door. The gasping stopped almost immediately, although someone was holding their breath. He went to knock again before he stopped himself. No, he was being silly. No one had seen or heard anything all morning from the room. The person living there couldn't have moved in yet, because if they had, then why on earth hadn't they made themselves known?

Breathing more deeply now, he laughed shakily and stepped away from the door. Could he have had a panic attack or something? Was it simply the stress of finding out he was flat sharing with Uther Pendragon's offspring?

Yes, that must be it.

Ignoring the compulsion to knock again, he gingerly walked the few paces more to his own bedroom, before slipping inside.

He had barely managed to make it to the other side of the room and open his window, before he heard Gwen's door open and the two girls emerge. He heard their footsteps travel swiftly to the kitchen, no doubt to find that it was empty, before they repeated on themselves to come to a halt outside his own door.

"Merlin are you in there?" came Morgana's voice through the wood.

"Yeah," he called; mentally cursing how strangled his voice sounded, "Come on in!"

"Bloody hell what happened to you?" gasped Gwen as she entered with room with Morgana in tow, "You look awful!"

Glancing in his wall mirror, Merlin could see what she meant. His usual pasty complexion was paler than was normal even for him and his forehead was still damp with sweat, giving his fringe a slightly dishevelled appearance.

"Urgh, yeah don't worry about me" he joked, smiling sheepily, "It started to get a bit hot in here, hence I was opening the window," he gestured half heartedly.

Thankfully this story seemed acceptable enough to pacify the girl's concern.

"Yes I guess it is a little bit warm in here," commented Morgana, "which just goes to prove that you **so** should have come and looked at the DVDs with us! Oh the fun we will have watching them this year!"

"I can't wait!" exclaimed Merlin with mock enthusiasm, earning him a playful shove from Gwen.

The cool breeze entering through the window was certainly soothing, creating cold patterns on his clammy skin, as though a dozen miniature dancers were prancing over his body. But however improved he was beginning to feel physically, the mental longing to knock on the door to room E remained. Why was it niggling at him so much?

"Oh you like the Wyverns!" cheered Gwen, clapping her hands in excitement as she spotted the poster next to his bed, snapping Merlin back to the present, "They are literally one of my favourite bands of all times and this of course has nothing to do with how ridiculously attractive the lead singer is!"

"Hmm yeah I see what you mean!" giggled Morgana, jumping onto Merlin's bed to get a closer look at the poster, "I certainly wouldn't mind a bit of that myself!"

Merlin laughed out loud, whilst taking a seat on the grey swivel chair positioned by his desk, grateful at the distraction the two girls where providing."Hey ladies, put your tongues away, I'll think you'll fine he's mine!"

He was so used to everyone at home knowing that he was gay, that he had completely forgotten that he hadn't mentioned it so far to anyone here. Way to go Merlin, that was really not the way he had planned to out himself at university...

The girls paused slightly, looking at him with surprise evident in their eyes, before a shrill laugh made both Merlin and Gwen jump out of their skins. Morgana was bouncing on his bed in glee, "Oh Merlin! Cute and gay? Oh this is perfect, I've always wanted a gay best friend!"

Merlin eyed her wearily, "I can do the gay, and possibly even stretch to the best friend bit, as long as it doesn't include going clothes shopping or dribbling over gossip magazines!"

"Morgana seemed to practically deflate before his eyes, "Oh you're no fun!" she pouted.

"Oh leave him alone Morgana!" laughed Gwen, "Just because he's gay doesn't mean he's a shopaholic like you! – You are actually gay aren't you?" she shot at him suddenly, to which he nodded, "Good, just checking it wasn't a joke we'd got the wrong end of!"

At this moment, the flat door opened and Arthur's voice carried into the room. He appeared to be in the middle of a heated debate with Lance about his potential to join the university football team.

"Honestly, men!" joked Gwen, winking at Merlin. She jumped up, ran to the door and poked her head out into the hallway. "Oh Arthur! Teabags! You shouldn't have! Yes we'll take four teas in here if you may, thanks for offering!"

With that she grabbed Lance by the arm and pulled him into the room, before closing the door swiftly on Arthur's indignant expression.

Lance straightened up and brushed down his jeans after almost being pulled face first into the room and smiled again at Merlin.

"Hey Merlin", he said offering his hand, "Sorry we didn't get much of a chance to speak earlier and don't mind Arthur, he was a bit tetchy that's all."

Merlin accepted the handshake with relief, glad to know that Lance didn't follow Arthur's lead in the prat-of-the-year department. "Hey, nice to meet you and no worries, I've had a lot worst trust me."

Lance nodded in understanding before taking a seat next to Morgana on the bed.

"So what are you studying?" asked Merlin, desperate to keep up his self distraction.

"I'm taking Biology" he said proudly, "The same as Arthur."

"Oh and me!" squeaked Gwen, beaming at Lance happily.

Merlin couldn't help but notice the tips of Lance's ears turning red and his mouth twitching slightly at the corners, as though he was struggling to contain a grin of his own.

He caught Morgana's eye and they exchanged a knowing look, before exploding into laughter.

Gwen and Lance looked between them, the confusion on their faces evident.

"Oh don't worry, don't worry" gasped Morgana, wiping a tear from her eye, "And I'm taking Journalism by the way, thanks for asking!"

They were disrupted at this point by the door to Merlin's room bursting open as though kicked, before a rather disgruntled looking Arthur stomped into the room, balancing several mugs of hot steaming tea on some dinner plates.

"Ah Arthur, just in time!" exclaimed Morgana, "Although to be honest I think things were getting hot enough in here without the tea!"

"Well I've not just slaved away over that crappy little kettle for nothing," scowled Arthur stomping into the middle of the room, "You will all drink the tea and you will enjoy it!"

"Yes your highness!" smirked Merlin, helping himself to a mug and earning himself a dazzling scowl for his troubles.

There was a general lull in the room as everyone took a sip of their tea and revelled in the medicinal taste.

"You may not have much natural talent Arthur" piped Morgana, "But I have to admit, you do make a brilliant cuppa!"

"Oh well that's my future career sorted then!" scoffed Arthur, taking a seat on the floor against the wall, as everyone else chuckled into their mugs.

"Anyway, the tea is really only practice for the drinking we'll all be doing later," he remarked, before pulling out six wrist bands from his pocket, " I got six free passes to the Rising Sun student bar tonight on the way back from the supermarket."

"How on earth did you manage that?!" gaped Morgana as she grabbed the passes off of her brother.

"My mate Gwaine was the guy selling the tickets; turns out his dad runs the club on behalf of the uni" he shrugged, "No need to thank me at once!"

"_We_ will be thanking Gwaine," tutted Morgana, handing the bands out to everyone, "And why did you get six bands?"

Arthur looked confused for a moment, before realisation struck, "Oh yeah, I figured I might as well get one just in case the final guy moves into room E."

Gwen sighed audibly, clutching her tea to her chest, "So no one's seen any sign of life from that room then?"

"I knocked earlier," piped Lance, causing Merlin's attention to suddenly focus on him completely, "But there was no reply."

Gwen smiled and patted Lance's arm, "Well it was very good of you to try!"

As she did, Merlin noticed Arthur sniff haughtily and look away, his expression irritated.

It was no use, the curiosity was too much and he had to ask.

"You didn't notice anything unusual coming from the room did you Lance?" Merlin asked casually, looking at his tea.

Lance looked at him thoughtfully, "No, why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason," Merlin diverted,"I just thought I heard something earlier".

The room fell silent as everyone finished the last dregs of their tea and placed the mugs on the floor.

"So Merlin," drawled Arthur, flexing his biceps as he leant back against the wall, his arms crossed above his head, "Are you hoping to pick up any girls tonight? Seeing as you're such a babe magnet and all?"

"Not girls no..." he said pointedly, "Guys on the other hand..."

Needless to say Arthur stopped flexing immediately in favour of folding his arms across his chest. "Oh, I see," he said coolly.

"Is that a problem?" queried Merlin sharply

"Of course it isn't!" snapped Morgana, glaring angrily across the room at her brother, "Just ignore him Merlin."

"It's perfectly fine" sniffed Arthur, although he still held himself as though he was half expecting Merlin to give into some unbearable desire and leap on him to steal his heterosexuality.

Merlin sighed and shook his head smiling. Tonight was certainly going to be interesting.

All five heads then turned suddenly as the door next to Merlin's clicked in its frame and began to open, followed by the quiet padding of footsteps heading towards the kitchen.

Phew! I hope you enjoy the chapter guys! I'll try to get chapter 4 up in the next couple of days.

Peace out! : D


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – A dusty sandwich

Everyone was frozen still, their ears straining visibly as cupboards were opened and closed in the kitchen.

"It's a man" whispered Gwen, her brown eyes widening knowingly, causing everyone to turn to look at her in surprise.

"How on earth can you possibly know that?"asked Arthur quietly, his eye brows raised and his expression doubtful.

Gwen shrugged, "Well having lived in a house with 2 men for the past goodness how many years of my life, I've become pretty attuned to the sound of a hungry man going hunting in the kitchen!" She smiled, her gaze drifting to the window, "Bless them!" she added fondly, "They really don't have a clue."

"Actually I'm a pretty good cook," pointed out Lancelot, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Speak for yourself" mumbled Merlin, his expression serious, "My mum has the fire brigade on speed dial whenever I venture into the kitchen.

"Now why doesn't that surprise me!" mumbled Arthur, rolling his eyes.

"I think we're going slightly off topic!" trilled Morgana, her eye flashing excitedly, "The _real_ question is why we aren't in there now introducing ourselves!"

As if to emphasize her point there came the clattering of opening drawers from the other room, as whoever it was went about their business, unsuspecting of the interest they had generated from their new flatmates.

Lance stood up slowly, his handsome face set in a slight frown. "I don't think us all rushing in there and scaring the life out of them, especially if they are a little shy, is the best thing to do really..."

Gwen nodded in agreement. "Why doesn't Merlin go in there first, seeing as he's the most recent addition to our happy little family?" she suggested democratically, ignoring Arthur's bemused expression, "Then that way he can judge if he is a little shy and we can decide how to go from there."

"_If_ they are a 'he' that is," playfully interjected Arthur.

"A round of drinks says I'm right!" replied Gwen confidently, raising her hand to Arthur, which he took without hesitation. "You are _so_ going down Gwen!"

Sighing dramatically to the amusement of Morgana and Lance, Merlin pulled himself up from his chair and walked out of the room. The anxiety had returned once more and he felt as though his stomach was performing a violent gymnastic display. Whoever it was that room, could have quite possibly experienced the same horrible sensation as he had earlier on, that is if their simultaneous gasping was anything to go by. It was some relief, he supposed, to think that it may not have just been something that had only happened to him.

He pushed the polished beech door to the kitchen open slowly before peeking round.

A young man stood at the worktop with his back to him, a pair of headphones fitted firmly over his ears. He was wearing a pair of faded denim shorts which frayed just above the knee, revealing pale legs downed by fine dark hair and even paler bare feet. On his upper body he wore a navy blue woollen jumper with the sleeves rolled up, which was several sizes too big giving him the appearance of a child who had tried on his father's clothes. His coal black hair was short yet curling softly, so that if not for the headphones, they might have been sitting over the tops of his ears. He was singing to himself quietly as he went about slicing several piece of white bread, completely oblivious to the newcomer.

Merlin attempted to clear his throat as he moved a small way into the room, so as to attract his attention without startling him; however this earned him no response. He frowned at himself in irritation, pressing his tongue into his cheek. He felt so stupid; what was wrong with him? He'd never had trouble introducing himself to people before, so why was this random boy any different? Apparently his internal debate had gone on for far longer than he had anticipated as the other man turned around holding a plate of sandwiches. For a second, blue eyes met pale grey, before the man jumped and gave a startled yelp; his carefully made sandwiches falling off the plate and onto the floor with a comical splat.

They both stood awquardly for several moments, staring at the scattered pieces of bread and cheese around them, as though they had never seen anything quite like it.

"Holy shi—what were you?—How long were you standing there?" spluttered the man, pulling his headphones down jerkily off his ears, whilst leaning against the worktop for support, "You gave me a fucking heart attack!"

Merlin backed away, hands raised in apology. _Well the whole not startling him was well and truly out of the window, or in this case all over the floor..._

"I am so sorry!" he exclaimed, "I really didn't mean to startle you, I- you-... I've never quite evoked that reaction before," he finished lamely.

The other man let out a strangled laugh whilst running a pale hand through his hair; no doubt mourning the unexpected loss of his sandwiches.

"I'm Merlin, by the way," he stuttered, offering his hand, "I did knock earlier but I don't think you heard me."

It may have been his imagination, but the other mans eyes seemed to widen slightly as in realisation, before a cool and collected expression flitted over his face

And oh wow his face... A pointed nose, complemented by an angular jaw line and just a hint of stubble. And the eyes, those startling pale grey eyes! The very eyes which at this moment almost seemed to be burning into his own.

"Mordred," he stated, taking Merlin's hand, "my name is Mordred."

Merlin's stomach flipped as their hands made contact and his vision seemed to flash momentarily. It took all his self-control to not jerk his hand away – God forbid Mordred should think him any weirder than he probably did already.

A small smile played on Mordred's lips as he let go of Merlin's hand, "Yeah sorry I didn't hear you knock, I have a habit of sleeping with these on", he said, pointing to the headphones around his neck.

Merlin nodded meekly, his fingers still tingling from the hand shake.

"I arrived probably about an hour and a half ago but nobody was in," he continued; unaware of, or ignoring, Merlin's odd behaviour, as he started to pick up pieces of food off the floor. "So I thought I'd have a nap whilst waiting for other people to arrive and then I went and had a nightmare which always makes me hungry... – Are you alright?" he shot at Merlin.

Merlin plastered what he hoped wasn't too stupid a looking grin on his face, "Yeah sorry, I was listening... you had a nightmare which made you hungry?"

"Probably too much of this stuff," joked Mordred, waving a piece of cheese at him, bits of dust and grit clinging to it in an unsavoury fashion.

Merlin wrinkled his nose in distaste, before bending down and helping to clear the mess up off the floor – it was mainly his fault after all.

As he fished a stray crust out from under the kitchen table, he considered Mordred's story from his own perspective. It was true that everyone else had been out when he arrived, so maybe Mordred could have got here just before him? Then the nightmare would explain the gasping... But then what were the chances it could have coincided with his own nightmarish experience?

He had a distinct feeling that there was more to Mordred's account of events than he was letting on, but he decided against pursuing it further. For now anyway...

"So are there others in the flat now then?" asked Mordred curiously, once Merlin had straightened up, the elusive piece of bread now in his hand.

"Yeah sorry, didn't I say!" grinned Merlin, (_why_ was he grinning like an idiot?), "Everyone else is here - I came out as a kind of scout in case you were shy or something."

Mordred put his head into his hands and groaned, "Oh man, please don't tell me they think I'm a reclusive hermit or something?"

"Well there's only one way to prove them wrong if they do!" piped Merlin, making a move towards the door before halting himself, "that is unless you want to finish your sandwich".

They both turned to look in unison at the dirty dishevelled looking remnants of the sandwich sitting on its plate on the table.

"Ummm, I _think_ I'll pass!" said Morderd lightly, that small smile once more present on his lips.

With that he picked up the plate and tipped the sandwich into the silver metallic peddle bin by the door. He put the plate next to the sink to be washed later, before he turned and looked at Merlin expectantly. "Lead the way!" he said with a ceremonious bow.

Laughing out loud, Merlin opened the door to the kitchen and led Mordred down the hallway to his room. He placed his hand on the door handle before turning and flashing a smirk at Mordred. "Brace yourself!" he joked, laughing again as Mordred screwed up his face in an expression of mock terror.

As he opened the door, the enthusiastic conversation which had been going on in the room stopped and four expectant faces turned to face him. "So?" demanded Morgana impatiently, her dark finely styled eyebrows raised in anticipation, before she noticed Mordred standing sheepishly behind him.

"It's a boy!" she squeaked, raising her arms up in celebration before giving Gwen a hug.

Gwen feigned becoming overwhelmed with emotion, fluttering her hand in front of her face as though to prevent herself from crying, "Oh this the best present a mother could ask for; a free round of drinks at the student union bar!"

Arthur scowled at her while crossing his arms sulkily, "Okay okay... no need to rub it in!"

"Urrr have I missed something?" whispered Mordred into Merlin's ear, whilst the others debated whether a handshake constitutes a binding contract.

Merlin jumped slightly at the sudden proximity of Mordred's mouth to his ear, although he would come to admit to himself later that it wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience.

"Gwen claimed she could tell you were a guy by the way you shut and opened the cupboards in the kitchen," Merlin whispered back, "Arthur disagreed, so they had a wager that whoever was wrong has to buy everyone a round of drinks later."

Mordred winced, "So I'm already in Arthur's bad books for being the wrong gender? Have you seen the size of those biceps?"

"Just ignore him," said Merlin in an undertone, whilst pulling him by the sleeve in towards the centre of the room so as to introduce him properly, "Apparently he's an alright guy when you get to know him, although personally I can only see a royal twat at present..."

Merlin cleared his throat loudly, so as to attract the attention of the others. "Okay, this is officially scout Merlin reporting back from his mission to the kitchen," he declared, whilst attempting to keep his voice and expression serious.

He gestured to Mordred who was standing beside him, "This is Mordred, who is in fact a man, I repeat a _man_," he emphasised, whilst pointedly looking at Arthur.

"Mordred, I give you, Gwen, Lance and Morgana and Arthur," he said, pointing to them all in turn.

Gwen and Morgana waved cheerily, whilst Lance gave a friendly nod, to which Mordred reciprocated. Arthur on the other had got to his feet and offered his hand formally.

"Arthur Pendragon" he proclaimed, a self-confident smile on his face, "nice to meet you, although you have just cost me a round of drinks..."

Merlin noticed Mordred's hands twitch slightly at the mention of Arthur's surname and his expression seemed to cool, his eyes narrowing. Nevertheless he took Arthur's hand and shook it firmly, "My apologies", he remarked, his voice clipped.

"Oh for fucks sake Arthur, it's not his fault you lost the bet!" exclaimed Morgana in exasperation.

Arthur blanched visibly, turning to Morgana with his eyes blazing. "Seriously Morgana, you can't speak to me like that; not unless you want to me have a word with father –"

"As if I care what Uther thinks of me!" laughed Morgana, rolling her eyes, "It's not as though I haven't gone against his oh-so-superior wishes before is it?"

Her outburst sparked a recollection in Merlin's memory; something that up until now he had practically forgotten. A couple of years ago now, when he had just started his first year at college, there used to be a newspaper stand outside the campus café, which used to sell various teen tabloids and upcoming fashion publications. Of course, the daughter of international businessman Uther Pendragon was seen of something of a teen icon and so was constantly being requested for interviews by various journalists and reporters. It just so happened that that during one such interview, Morgana had been asked whether her father had approved of her latest daring outfit at a local charity ball, to which she had defiantly replied, "It wouldn't matter to me in the slightest if he didn't like it, I mean, I've made it clear to him before that I feel some of his own... policies are somewhat medieval..."

Of all the papers who could have published this statement, only one did, which made for a highly discussed topic of conversation around the college. Nobody ever had anything bad to say about Uther Pendragon. Merlin had eventually given into temptation and bought a copy so as to see what all the fuss was about. He remembered the man on the stall was a friendly chap, with shocking red hair and a laugh so loud that people would often stop and stare in alarm. The next day however when Merlin had gone into college, both the stand and the man had vanished. He later found out upon further investigation, that the paper which had published Morgana's statement had suddenly declared bankruptcy and closed down almost overnight. Could it have been a coincidence?

He highly doubted it.

"So are you up for it Merlin?"

"Hmmm? What?"

He really needed to stop doing this.

"I was just saying," said Gwen, smiling at him in an amused manner, "that it might be a good idea for us to go and do our own things for a bit, before meeting in the kitchen at say, 7 'o' clock and then heading down for some food before going to the club?

He could see Mordred looking at him curiously out of the corner of his eye and could feel the tips of his ears turning red.

"Yeah that sounds good for me!" he enthused, attempting to make up for the blank expression he was no doubt wearing while he was having his trip down memory lane.

"Well I should really probably finish unpacking," sighed Morgana, climbing off the bed, her sleek hair falling round her stunningly angular face, "Having been sitting in this immaculately clean room for so long , it has made me feel a little self conscious about the state of mine!"

"It's not that clean!" scoffed Arthur, also rising to his feet, before helping to pull up Lance, "It only looks organised in here seeing as Merlin hardly seems to own anything!"

This was obviously yet another blatant referral to the fact that Arthur Pendragon happened to possess much larger quantities of money than Merlin Emrys and could therefore afford to plush out his own room with all sorts of comforts.

If he was to be perfectly honest with himself, this prick was seriously starting to piss him off...

"Well maybe Merlin doesn't feel the need to waste his money on loads of unnecessary crap?" pointed out Mordred, whilst looking Arthur straight in the eye.

Arthur raised his hands in the air while grinning, as though deflecting any accusations, "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it, if he takes offense at it then it's his problem, not mine!"

"I've seen your room Arthur mate" interjected Lance hurriedly, as though to prevent any arguments potentially escalating, "to be honest it does kinda look like a bomb has exploded in there..."

"It's all under control," said Arthur lazily, whilst waving Lances hand away and making for the door, "but if you're that concerned about it then you can help me shift some of it!"

Lance sighed before following him out, with an apologetically smiling Gwen and Morgana close behind.

"Don't worry Merlin, I'll go give him a kick up the arse with some very pointy shoes I have," promised Morgana before she left the room, "And I'll make him swear to be on his best behaviour later!"

With a small wave at the pair of them, she closed the door behind her, leaving Merlin and Mordred alone together in the room.

"... Well that went well!" enthused Mordred sarcastically, clapping his hands together.

Merlin laughed lightly, before spotting the last wristband lying forgotten on the floor. He bent over and picked it up, before gingerly offering it to Mordred.

"Arthur got us all free passes to the union tonight, If you're up for it?" he asked, "It might be fun and hey, who knows, maybe Arthur will lighten up a bit after a few drinks?"

"Are you sure he'd want me there after I contradicted him?" Mordred asked doubtfully, his brow furrowed slightly as he spoke.

"Well Morgana does it all the time and she's still going!" reasoned Merlin, "and to be fair I should probably buy you a drink to make up for your sandwich... that is if you're coming?"

Mordred looked him in the eye for a moment; his face serious, before it broke into a dazzling smile and he took the band from Merlin and tied it onto his wrist. "Oh go on then, I might as well seeing as that's two free drinks I'm guaranteed tonight!"

He walked over to the door and turned to face Merlin, "Give me a knock just before seven if you like and we can go wait in the kitchen together?"

Merlin nodded in agreement causing Mordred to gift him with another of his small grins, before he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

Suddenly the thought of a night out didn't seem so bad after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since my last update, this past week has been absolutely manic with work and studying. This said, I'm hoping that I may be able to churn another, slightly longer chapter out tomorrow or the day after, which will hopefully make up for this. : )

Chapter 5 – Hobbit feet

Merlin certainly didn't know what he was expecting, but Mordred certainly wasn't it. He was so... normal and admittedly rather cute. Not that he was thinking like that; after all, they had only just met and there was definitely something about him which made him feel weary. However that said, he couldn't deny the strange impulse he had to be close to him; it was strikingly similar to the compulsion he had earlier to knock again on Mordred's door.

It was as though something inside of him detected the other boy's presence, even before he had consciously met him. Was it his magic? Was that even possible?

He very much doubted it.

Merlin span on the spot, where for the last few minutes he had been staring at the door through which Mordred had just left, his brow furrowed in contemplation. It was 4pm, so that left plenty of time to have a nap, as well as shower and decide on the appropriate clothing for such an important first flat night out.

It also left him time to suppress the itching in his gut to see Mordred again.

He locked his door and shut his curtains, before stripping down to his underwear and climbing into bed. After setting an alarm on his phone for two hours time, he quickly checked his text messages:

_From: Mum_

_Am on the train now, it's very busy. Love you, Mum xxx_

He sighed, an endearing smile on his lips. Man he had to love his mother. He replied to her message:

_Hope u aren't stuck next 2 a guy with BO again. Flatmates r lovely (mostly) and am goin out l8r for some drinks. I won't get too drunk (esp after last time). Merlin xxx P.s. I'm gonna apologise to Will on your behalf._

He put his phone on silent and placed it on the bedside table next to him before turning over on his side to face the wall. It'd been a hectic trip from Ealdor with his luggage in tow and a more than interesting turn of events since he had moved into the flat. It was only now, lying in the dark solitude of his room that he realised how tired he was. He was so exhausted...

_Echoing screams assaulted his ears over the already blaring and disjointed sound of music. His vision was filled with flashing lights and various nameless faces as he forced his way through the oncoming crowd as though a salmon fighting to swim upstream. All of this was irrelevant however; he didn't have the time, he had to stop him. "He didn't give me any choice," he heard a voice say to his left, a voice so cold yet oh so familiar. Dread filled his stomach as he froze on the spot and turned to face the speaker. He was too late... _

"_MERLIN!"_

He sat bolt upright in his bed to the shrill sound of his phone alarm. His shoulders where dripping with a cold sweat which was slowly beginning to trickle down his back uncomfortably. It was only a dream - one which didn't make a lot of sense at that. So why did he feel so scared? Who was the voice talking about?

Shaking his head as though also attempting to shake off the effects of the dream, Merlin pushed the covers off himself and shakily got to his feet. He paused briefly to silence the alarm, before wearily padding over to his en-suite. Maybe he really shouldn't have had that nap.

He turned on the bathroom light and groggily appraised his reflection in the mirror. Sweat still shone across his shoulders and was clinging to the dark scattered hairs on his pale chest. He looked a right state. Upon leaning forwards to examine his face closer he could have sworn he momentarily saw the swirling gold of his magic mixing with the blue of his iris. He blinked before looking again. His reflection gazed back at him with blue eyes and not a hint of gold in sight.

It was probably just a trick of the light.

He sighed as he ran a hand through his damp hair and swivelled around so as to turn the shower on behind him.

Ridding himself of his underwear and making sure the bathroom door was shut he stepped into the quickly warming torrent of the shower and pulled the plain grey shower-curtain closed.

This was _much_ more like it... He smiled to himself as he let the steaming water run down over his body; feeling the sweat and tension caused by the dream wash away and become sucked down the plughole. He reached to his right and selected his favourite 'going out' shower gel, which he then proceeded to lather onto himself – under his arms, between his legs, over his chest, through his hair and even between his toes. The warmth of the water and scent of the shower gel were certainly medicinal; one might even say heavenly.

Reluctantly he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower cubicle. The room was heavy with water-vapour in the air and the mirror was completely obscured with dripping condensation. Man he loved a hot shower.

He grabbed his towel and dried himself off, before wrapping it around his waist and trudging into the main bedroom, closing the door behind him. He shivered at the slight change in temperature between the rooms as he dropped the towel and walked completely naked to his underwear draw. He was so glad he had the sense to keep his curtains closed, unlike that unfortunate incident back home with poor Mrs. Whitfield.

Once his underwear and deodorant had successfully been applied, he decided on a pair of his favourite tight fitting black jeans and a simple green t-shirt. He doubted anyone else would dress themselves up too much either and sometimes the simple approach was best. He roughly applied some gel to his hair in an attempt to control it, before making sure he put his phone, wallet and keys in his pocket and his entrance band onto his wrist. He glanced at the time: 6.45 - that should be fine for knocking on Mordred's door.

Attempting and failing to suppress the feeling of anticipation which was beginning to blossom in his chest, he opened the door to his room, turned out the light and then stepped into the hallway.

He locked his door before shifting to his left so that he was standing in front of Mordred's room.

Making sure he composed himself to look cool and collected, he knocked gently on the door and strained his ears to detect any movement from within.

He could hear the brief opening and closing of drawers before he was met with the sound of light footsteps making their way towards him. As the door opened, Merlin was greeted by the sight of an obviously recently showered Mordred, who was looking rather dashing in a pair of navy blue chinos and a white and grey chequered short-sleeve shirt, which buttoned up to his neck.

Glancing downwards briefly, Merlin chuckled, "Don't you _ever_ wear socks?"

Mordred followed his gaze down to his once again bare feet before smiling back up again at Merlin in such a manner that for a second it was as though the breath was knocked from his lungs.

"I was literally about to put some on I swear!" he joked, whilst beckoning Merlin into his room so he could shut the door, "But at least I don't have hobbit feet or anything!"

Looking around, Merlin was struck in how similar it seemed to his own, what with relatively little possessions and clutter, with the exception of the towel left lying on the floor (although he was one to talk). Mordred must have noticed him looking at the towel as he brushed past Merlin in order to pick it up, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Yeah sorry about that, I overslept so was in a bit of a rush to get dressed before you knocked."

"Oh, sorry!" said Merlin, whilst pointing his thumb over his shoulder, "I can go if you like and pop back in a few minutes?"

A look of alarm briefly flashed across Mordred's face, "No, no it's fine," he exclaimed, before throwing the towel over the back of his desk chair, "You're here now and I've only got a few more things to do then we can head to the kitchen to meet the others."

Merlin took a seat on the edge of the bed, which he noted was still slightly warm from where its occupier had obviously left it not too long ago. He watched as Mordred began styling his own hair in much a similar way that he had earlier, although with much more precision and care. "So where abouts are you from?" enquired Mordred, his eyes focussed on Merlin in his reflection, "I'm thinking Wales from the slight edge of your accent?"

Merlin grinned at his observation, "Yeah that's right, a little village called Ealdor... And yourself?"

Mordred's eyes flicked back to examining his hair styling and his expression became clouded, "Cardiff originally; but I've moved around a lot, it's complicated, but most recently I've been staying in London.

Not wishing to push for further details on the matter at this point, Merlin attempted to change the topic of conversation. "What are you studying? – Don't think I got the chance to ask earlier."

"History," replied Mordred, the smile having returned to his face, "I managed to get good enough grades to be entitled to the grants; otherwise I would never had been able to afford this place!"

Merlin nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah same here and I'm doing English Lit, so it seems it's me, you and Morgana against the other three who are all biology students!"

Mordred laughed at this, as he opened one of the drawers next to his bed and pulled out a pair of socks. He sat himself down next to Merlin and began putting them on, their arms occasionally brushing against one another. Each time they made contact it was as though static was dancing across the skin of his arm and he could feel himself becoming increasing aroused. He sat forwards slightly so as to hide any tenting, whilst mentally cursing himself for wearing such tight trousers. Why on earth was his body reacting like this? Since when was a guy putting on a pair of socks anything to get excited by?

Soon enough though, Mordred had jumped to his feet and was putting on his shoes, giving Merlin a blessed few moments to compose himself before he was required to stand up.

"I don't suppose you could help me put on my wristband could you?" asked Mordred, holding it out to him with an apologetic smile on his face, "I can never do the straps."

"Urrr, yeah sure no problem, let me help you with that" breathed Merlin, taking it from his hand. He gently wrapped it around Mordred's pale left wrist, whilst taking care not to get it caught on any of the dark hairs on his forearm. His fingers felt as though there were buzzing with electricity as they held the other boys wrist in place and it seemed all too soon that he was letting go; the wristband having been secured.

He could feel the tips of his ears turning red as he took a step back.

"Thanks," smiled Mordred, his own ears also slightly pinker than usual.

"Shall we make a move?" Merlin asked, with immense relief that his voice didn't squeak.

"Yeah we might as well..."

Merlin headed towards the door, feeling as though his heart was beating much louder than usual, whilst Mordred, patting his pockets so as to make sure he was bringing everything he needed, followed close behind.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – For the love of chips

They entered the kitchen together to find Gwen already in there, flicking through her phone casually. She looked beautiful in a golden fitted party dress which cut off just before the knee. It was also obvious that she had made more effective use of her three hour alone time, in having styled her black hair into elegant ringlets.

She looked up from her phone at their entrance and smiled cheerily, "Hey guys, looking good! Morgana will be along in a minute – she's just touching up her make up!"

"You look amazing!" complimented Mordred, moving across the room to sit on the sofa opposite her, to which she returned the compliment, "So Merlin was telling me that you were studying biology?"

Merlin felt a slight pang in his stomach as he watched Gwen and Mordred engage enthusiastically into a conversation regarding course choices and college. Technically he knew he shouldn't be feeling jealous; Mordred was perfectly in his right to talk to other people. ..

He turned as the door opened behind him and Morgana breezed in. His jaw dropped. She looked nothing short of dazzling in a sleek little black dress which no doubt came with an extortionate price tag attached. It was money well spent though, he considered and if he wasn't completely gay then he was sure he would have been feeling weak at the knees just being in her presence. She was definitely dressed to impress and it was guaranteed that she would certainly be making an impression at the club later on.

"Merlin, you're looking lovely!" she purred, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah you too, you're looking stunning!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mordred glance over at Morgana and noticed his eyebrows rise appreciatively before his attention focussed back to Gwen who was now animatedly talking about her university interview experience.

"So where are Arth-"

He was interrupted as the man himself burst through the door in a tight fitting black shirt and fashionably torn jeans. Why did he have to dress so attractively, yet behave like a total prick?

Lance entered soon after wearing, to Merlin's relief, a fitted white low neck tshirt and some simple black jeans similar to his own. At least someone had the same idea as him regarding keeping the dress code low-key.

Arthur looked Merlin down and was no doubt about to come out with some sniping remark about the quality of his clothes, before Morgana shot him down with a withering look. He scowled and took up his position by the kitchen sink, looking over at Gwen and Mordred with a sulky expression on his face.

"Looking good Morgana," smiled Lance, whist also giving Merlin a friendly clap on the arm in greeting.

"Why thank you Lancelot, at least you, unlike my dearest brother, know how to be graceful with complementing others..." Arthur scowled in response from his perch on the worktop.

Lance chuckled and took up position opposite Arthur across the kitchen. He too however seemed to be glancing over at Gwen, his expression unreadable.

"I certainly wouldn't want to be in Mordred's shoes right now," whispered Morgana into Merlin's ear, making him jump.

"What? Why?" he whispered back, his expression curious.

"If I'm not mistaken (and I hardly ever am), it would appear that Arthur has taken a bit of a liking to our newly acquainted friend Guinevere over there... It's not often that someone attracts his attention like that, but when they do, he can become somewhat possessive should anyone else try to vie for their attention."

Merlin frowned at this new piece of information, "So what about Lance? You'd have to be completely thick not to see that he's been practically staring at her all afternoon?"

Morgana shook her head knowingly, "Lance has known Arthur for years now and he can handle himself against him if push comes to shove. Mordred on the other hand does not have this prior expertise and so would probably become a sitting duck should the other two think he was gaining too much of Gwen's favour."

The feeling of jealousy returned and twisted uncomfortably in his stomach at the thought of Gwen and Mordred together, although unlike for the other two men, it was Gwen who was the potential threat.

"You don't think that Mordred likes Gwen in that way do you?" he asked in a hushed voice, whist turning to the cupboard so as to get himself out a glass.

"It's hard to say," frowned Morgana, as Gwen let out an extremely loud laugh, "I've only spoken to Mordred briefly and I..._ Oh."_

He glanced sideways at her as he was about to close the cupboard door, to see her staring at him with an expression of realisation on her face.

"You like him don't you?" she breathed, eyes flashing with excitement.

Merlin could feel his ears burning red as he stared at the floor, "No I... Well I don't actually know him... I mean I don't dislike him..."

Morgana chuckled quietly while pretending to inspect her finely manicured nails, "Don't worry I'm not going to say anything... and in response to your question... no, on looking at him again now, it's almost as though he is genuinely interested in what she has to say, rather than simultaneously wondering what cup size she is like I expect most other guys would be!"

Merlin started at her blankly for a moment, "Morgana... you do realise you are in fact talking to a guy right now don't you?"

"Yes but I've decided that you don't count," she chimed, smiling endearingly, "Because a) you're gay and b) you have the most adorable blushing ears that I've ever seen in my life!" As if to emphasise this she reached up and gave them a playful flick, causing them both to burst out laughing.

"When you've quite finishing molesting Merlin Morgana," interjected Arthur from across the room, attracting everyone's attention, "Then I highly recommend we make a move to get some grub!"

"I was not molesting him, "insisted Morgana as she rummaged through her purse whilst making small steps towards the door. She paused in an after-thought, before winking at Merlin, "I think fondling is a better word!

As he snorted with amusement, he happened to look up and catch Mordred's eye. Was it just him or did he look slightly irritated?

Gwen jumped up from the sofa and breezed over towards the door to catch up with Morgana, "Well I'm sure after climbing down 20 flights of stairs then some food will definitely be well deserved!"

Arthur barked a laugh in agreement as he pushed past Lance in order to open the door for her, "If they don't get that bloody lift working by tomorrow then I think I'll make a complaint to father."

He looked at Morgana, suddenly weary, as though expecting her to scold him yet again for mentioning Uther.

"I agree", she said simply, causing Arthur's jaw to drop in surprise. She shrugged her shoulders slightly before smirking, "I already snapped one pair of heels on the way up here and so if the lift isn't fixed soon then I might have to start wearing trainers or something!" She shuddered at the prospect, causing everyone, even Arthur to chuckle at her horror.

They all filed in unison to leave the kitchen; their empty stomachs gurgling uncomfortably. Mordred caught the door as it went to shut and held it open for Merlin. Morgana of course had to have seen this and while Mordred was double checking his door was locked, she mouthed at him "_Get in there!" _Merlin just stared at her with an incredibly ludicrous expression, causing her to laugh. Fortunately when Gwen asked her what was so funny; she kept to her earlier promise and gave some other reason.

Ten seemingly endless minutes of mind-numbing stairs later, they all emerged into the late summer sun, squinting slightly as the light glared off the surrounding buildings.

"C'mon," commanded Arthur, almost immediately taking charge of the situation and setting off at quite a pace, "There's a take away right next to the Rising Sun, so we might as well go there!"

"So much for democracy!" called Lance as the rest of them followed in his wake.

"Somehow I think Arthur likes to see himself as a man of action," joked Gwen, her eyes glinting with imagination, "He who bravely leads his weary people through dangerous and unfamiliar surroundings in search of food!"

Arthur turned at her words whilst walking and gave her a wink, looking extremely pleased with himself.

"Interesting theory," contemplated Morgana thoughtfully, intertwining her arm with Gwen's as they walked, "However I always like to think that he just has a massive ego to make up for other less... big, aspects of his person."

"MORGANA!" roared Arthur from in front.

Merlin and Mordred hung back slightly after sharing an amused glance, so as to keep themselves out of any impending sibling arguments.

"So what was it like growing up in Ealdor?" enquired Mordred whilst they walked.

"Pretty quiet really," smiled Merlin, casting his mind back home fondly, "It was your typical Welsh country village; everyone knew everybody else, there were loads of sheep and plenty of places for me and my best mate Will to play."

"Sounds... nice," replied Mordred almost wistfully, "Why did you decide to leave and go to a university so far away?"

Merlin shrugged, he didn't know if he really knew the reason himself. "I'm not sure... I guess I just felt as though I didn't really fit in anymore."

"Now _that_ is a feeling I can relate to," smiled Mordred, although there was a distinct bitter edge to his voice.

Merlin looked at him curiously, the burning desire to ask him about his own childhood sitting on his lips. He remembered earlier on in his room however, when he'd hardly seemed enthusiastic to discuss his past.

Mordred must have guessed what he was thinking regardless and he smiled sadly. "You wanna know about my childhood?"

Merlin met his gaze; fighting not to show the shiver which ran up his spine as he looked into the other boy's eyes.

"Yeah... only if you want that is."

Mordred nodded and turned his attention directly ahead. When he spoke his voice had a detached air to it and it seemed colder somehow.

"My parents died when I was very young, say five or six and I had no other real family to look after me. I spent most of my childhood in various cramped fucked up children's homes." He turned to look Merlin straight in the eye, "I hated it. I hated them."

Silence fell between the pair.

"I don't really know what to say," said Merlin weakly. He wanted to ask how his parents had died, but he felt now might not be the best time.

Mordred smiled sadly, his jaw still tensed in bitterness, "It's okay, don't worry. Neither do I most of the time. Christ I don't even know why I've just told you that! I mean I hardly know you!"

"I won't say anything to the others," promised Merlin, his expression serious.

"I know you won't"

And with that he flashed one of his brilliant crooked grins at Merlin which somehow managed to slightly lighten the mood between them almost instantly.

They would have kept walking had Merlin not almost collided with Arthur who, along with the others in the group, had come to a standstill outside a reasonable looking fish and chip shop which had fake shrubbery decorating it's crisp white painted exterior.

In any other circumstance his clumsiness probably would have earned him a sarcastic remark from Arthur, however the entire group seemed instantly pacified by the warm delicious aroma of chips wafting into the street.

Merlin was practically salivating as he and the others joined the short queue, which only became worse as he grew nearer and nearer to the counter.

"We're gonna get three large portions then share them in pairs if that sounds good to you guys?" asked Lance, leaning back from his spot in front of Merlin.

"That's fine," responded Morgana, before Merlin had even opened his mouth to reply, "I can share with Gwen and Mordred can share with Merlin."

He made a mental note never to get on her bad side; especially if this was what she was like when she was trying to help!

"That's £10.75 please!" announced the young girl serving the chips as she ogled hungrily at Lance and Arthur. For someone who worked at a take away, Merlin couldn't help but see the irony in her choice of expression.

"I'll get this," offered Lance, handing over £15. They all gave their thanks, eager to devour the chips as soon as humanly possible.

They'd barely gotten outside of the building before Mordred had torn open the paper over their shared bundle of chips and began shovelling them into his mouth. He noticed Merlin's bewildered expression and swallowed, "Well it's not as though I had a sandwich earlier to keep me going was it?" Merlin gave him a playful shove and grabbed a fistful of chips for himself, "Touché" he grinned.

The group wondered along the street aimlessly in near silence apart from the odd comment about how delicious and fluffy the chips were. Merlin had literally never tasted anything so good, and coupled with the occasional touching of Mordred's hand when they both reached for a chip, he was definitely already having a great evening.

By the time they'd finished their feasting and disposed of the paper wrappers, it was drawing close to 8pm, at which time the Rising Sun would open its doors. Of course the real partying didn't start until later but a drink was certainly welcome to wash down the chips.

"Urgh I feel so full!" groaned Arthur who was lying sprawled on a bench clutching his stomach under his shirt.

"You look like a golden walrus!" stated Morgana sweetly, earning her only a disgruntled moan from her brother.

"Looks like the doors have opened guys," said Mordred, nodding over towards the club where already a few people were starting to enter.

"Excellent!" cried Gwen, jumping up from the wall she had perched herself on, "What are we waiting for? First drinks are on Arthur!"

She grabbed Merlin and Mordred by the hand and began dragging them towards the club.

"I've got a bad feeling about this!" laughed Mordred as they struggled to keep up with her.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys, I'm so sorry it's taken so long for me to update! It's seemed as though my workload has been trying to prevent me from writing at all over the past week! Rest assured to those who have been asking, that I am still working on this story, although it may take a while for updates over the next 3 weeks. No Merlin on Mordred action as of yet I'm afraid ;) but I'm building up to it – honest!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxox ox

Chapter 7- That homosexual elephant.

After they had their wristbands checked by the burly looking security personnel at the door, they ventured inside The Rising Sun, only for Merlin to have his jaw physically drop. Sleek modern booths lined the vast room, occupied with white tables turned purple by the dimmed UV lights above; whilst at the head of the room there was the bar, illuminated by soft yellow beams of light fired up from the floor. The main feature of course was the dance floor, which was positioned conveniently right in the centre of the room beneath all sorts of strobe lighting and technical machines, which Merlin had admittedly never come across before in his life. At present it was pulsing dimly with a cool blue light as though it were alive and breathing; waiting for the time when the club would be full enough for the party to come alive and it could roar into life.

"Wow..." Mordred gaped from beside him, his face struck with awe, "You wouldn't get any of this at any other uni!"

This was a given, thought Merlin. Only one of the richest and most influential establishments in the country would lavish this sort of luxury on its students. It was a vast contrast to the local taverns back in Ealdor where he and Will used to go on occasion. To be perfectly truthful they were the closest Merlin had ever been to an actual nightclub; not that he was going to admit this to the others and _especially_ not Arthur.

"This is amazing!" sang Gwen, whilst clapping her hands and springing up onto her tip toes like a Meerkat trying to survey as much as the club as possible.

"Amazing _and_ expensive," sighed Merlin, as he pointed over to the drinks menu magnified up against the wall. He really didn't think his mother would be too impressed if he were to report home having spent his entire well earned student grant on drinks in this place.

"Well it's a good thing Arthur will be paying for the first round then isn't it?" smirked Morgana, quirking her eyebrow slyly over at her brother, "So if I were you then I'd make sure to order as expensive a drink as possible to make the most of it!"

You could practically see the colour drain from Arthur's face, even in the dimmed lighting of the club. "Have I ever told you how much I hate you Morgana?" he asked tightly, while miserably pulling his wallet out from his back pocket. Merlin could see Lance furiously trying to keep a straight face, but ultimately failing, resulting in him having to dodge out of the way quickly as Arthur aimed a kick at his shins.

"Frequently I believe yes," she trilled whilst looking around for a free booth in which they all could sit.

As it happened, it appeared that Arthur had little to worry about; Gwen and Morgana ordered a glass of white wine each, whilst Merlin and Mordred plucked for a simple pint of cider. Lance offered to help carry back the order and so the two men left for the bar, leaving the other four to settle into a booth.

The plush purple benches were deliciously welcoming as they sat down and there was an almost collective sigh of relief as they were able to take the weight of their feet.

As they sat, Mordred glanced over his shoulder and seemed to frown in thought at the pair taking a seat in the booth opposite theirs across the room. Merlin was on the verge on asking what he was looking at, before Gwen sighed and pouted her lips in worry.

"You don't think I was a bit harsh making him buy us all drinks do you?" she voiced aloud to the group, whilst staring at the back of Arthur's golden blonde head as he waited at the bar.

Morgana cast her a scandalous look, "Are you kidding? You made a bet fair and square and I can assure you that had it been the other way around then it'd be you propping up the bar right now!"

"I suppose..." smiled Gwen, sweeping a dark ringlet of hair back behind her ear. "But I just kind of feel as though maybe I've been a little bit tough on him today."

"Oh no you don't!" warned Morgana, placing her hand firmly on Gwen's arm, "If anything he should be buying you a drink regardless if he'd won the bet after the way he behaved this morning."

Mordred leaned forward in his seat, stretching his arms on the table, the confusion obvious on his face, "Are we missing something here?"

Merlin would no doubt have been similarly interested, had he not been completely occupied with inhaling the scent of Mordred's aftershave which had reached him as the other boy had shifted next to him. He saw Morgana glance at him peculiarly, as he leaned slightly to his left so as to inhale deeper, before he mentally slapped himself and adopted a curious position to mimic Mordred's.

Morgana clapped her hands together merrily, before launching into a story. "Basically, when I and Arthur went to introduce ourselves to Gwen, no sooner had she invited us into her room, than Arthur practically swaggered in and launched himself onto her bed and began making rude remarks about the collections of books and DVDs she had."

Merlin could kind of sympathise with Arthur in being faced with all of those romantic comedies but still, he wouldn't have gone about insulting Gwen's stuff in that way.

"Then of course I mentioned that I was a state schooled student here with a grant," added Gwen, rolling her eyes, "which of course got him up on his high horse moaning about all the commoners they were letting in these days..."

_Ah the jackpot..._ thought Merlin sarcastically and he could tell that Mordred was thinking along the same lines.

Gwen continued, her kind face still set into a slight frown. "I was still kind of stressed from moving in and saying goodbye to my dad and brother and I don't know, I just sort of... snapped!"

"It was wonderful..." sighed Morgana, a dreamy smile plastered across her face, "She started shouting at him about how she understood he was used to a more luxurious lifestyle but that it was no excuse for him to be so rude to her and that he was acting like he was some kind of spoiled prince!"

Mordred began shaking beside him, his arm brushing against his own as he laughed out loud.

"Oh that is brilliant!" he exclaimed, his eyes shining with tears of laughter.

"I felt kind of bad afterwards but at the time it did feel really good!" admitted Gwen, grinning shyly.

"So that's why you've caught his eye is it?" winked Merlin, causing Gwen to blush prettily.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she exclaimed, whilst glancing up again at the bar, obviously flustered.

It was only then that it dawned upon him, that if both Lance and Arthur seemed to be showing an interest in Gwen, then it was only a matter of time before there would inevitably be some sort of conflict over the matter. Now that Mordred was no longer involved, he felt free to feel concerned on Gwen's behalf. However, he reasoned to himself, this wasn't a given and certainly not worth his while contemplating over now.

"Speaking of affections for others," smirked Morgana, leaning forward across the table, her necklace glinting and sparkling under the UV lights, "do you happen to seeing anyone Mordred?"

Mordred, who had been looking over at the men in the other booth again turned sharply, his face blank as though caught completely by surprise. "Ummm what?"

Merlin could feel himself tense whilst awaiting his reply. He was obviously straight and no doubt had an equally stunning girlfriend waiting for him back in London. He felt his magic stir deep within him as though it too was eager to hear what Mordred had to say. That was odd...

"Are you seeing anyone at the moment?" repeated Morgana, her eyes glinting with curiosity, although Merlin noticed them flit over onto his own face on occasion. Clearly she wasn't asking for her own benefit.

"Urr No I'm not..." he said, his blushing cheeks casting an attractive contrast over his features under the club lights.

Merlin felt as though his heart swelled in chest – just for a moment – before returning to its usual size with a thump. It therefore surprised him when he noted his chest hadn't actually physically moved and that this occurrence had gone completely unnoticed by the others.

Mordred was _single_! Not that this actually meant anything, but somehow just knowing this made his life seem just that bit more rosy.

"Really?" exclaimed Morgana, with the hint of a grin hid under her innocent expression, "I would have thought you would have been inundated with girls!"

Mordred chuckled at this, whilst absent-mindedly spinning a coaster he had picked up from the table with his pale fingers, "I can't say that it's ever happened!"

"What hasn't?" came an unexpected voice, making them all jump in their seats. Arthur and Lance had returned with the drinks whilst they were talking and were both standing there expectantly.

"If he told you, then he'd have to kill you," shrugged Merlin, casting a wink in Morded's direction.

"Well in that case we'd better drop that topic and starting drinking these then!" grinned Lance as he began serving out the drinks he was holding.

Merlin took his cider with thanks and took a sip, enjoying the sensation of the cool liquid running down his throat, washing away at the lingering taste of the chips. Across from him, Arthur had already knocked back half a pint and it looked like the rest would soon be heading the same way. He noticed Merlin's gaze and shrugged unapologetically, "How else is a guy supposed to get wasted around here?"

Gwen rolled her eyes and shifted her position to turn to face Morgana again, a wide smirk plastered on her face. "So what about you?" earning her a quizzical look from the rest of the group.

Morgana also looked confused as she took a large sip of her wine, "Hhhmm?"

"Are there any special men in your life at the moment?" clarified Gwen, her grin widening further as she leant her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand.

There was a loud spluttering sound as Arthur choked on his beer, spilling some of the drink down his front in the process. He hardly seemed to notice however, as he glared at Morgana intensely as he awaited her answer.

"Honestly Arthur! There's no need to put on the protective brother act; it really doesn't suit you!" chuckled Morgana as she took yet another sip of wine.

"Well?" smirked Mordred from beside him, obviously enjoying what he could have been considering revenge for her putting him on the spot earlier.

Morgana stuck out her tongue playfully at him, before sighing and placing her glass on the table, "There isn't anyone no... and to be perfectly honest I doubt there will be anyone soon! Men can be such arseholes... I was thinking of renouncing men completely actually..." She turned sharply to Gwen, pouting her lips suggestively, "How about it Gwen?" she smouldered, "Fancy a walk on the wild side?"

This time both Arthur and Lance choked into their glasses and ended up spraying beer all over the table. Merlin bit his lip in an effort to contain his laughter at the look on Arthur's face and wished he had pre-emptively thought to get his camera phone out.

"We'll have none of that... stuff going on Morgana!" warned Arthur as he slapped a still coughing Lance on the back, "There's already a big enough homosexual elephant in the flat don't you think?"

"Arthur..." warned Lance, looking sharply at his friend, whilst continuing to gasp uncomfortably.

Merlin did his best to maintain a neutral expression, but he couldn't help but admit that he feeling slightly hurt. However it was not a completely new experience for him; which like his mother had told him he must learn to accept throughout life.

"Have I missed something here?" queried Mordred, frowning slightly, looking from face to face around the table, which had been overcome by a stony silence.

_Oh..._ realised Merlin. Mordred hadn't been in the room earlier when he'd outed himself to the others. He could feel the back of his neck prickling uncomfortably and no doubt his ears were burning red. Thank goodness for the dimmed lighting.

Should he say something? He had enjoyed being in Mordred's company, fleeting though it had so far been and he didn't want it to end before it had even began should it turn out he shared Arthur's views...

His mouth had turned bone dry as he made to speak, "He means m -"

"Ignore him Mordred," snarled Morgana, her eyes blazing at her brother, "He's just being a jerk."

Arthur simply shrugged as he downed the rest of his beer, pausing to wink at Merlin as he stood up, "On that note I'm off for a piss" he smirked, "Coming Lance?"

Lance looked up at Gwen briefly, who was herself biting her lip to restrain herself, before turning to look up at Arthur, "I'm fine here thanks."

Arthur looked slightly taken aback at Lance's decline before he righted himself and swiftly turned on the spot and made in the direction of the toilets.

"What a complete prick," breathed Mordred, "No offense," he added, tilting his glass to Morgana.

"Oh no no, I wholeheartedly agree!" she said airily, waving him off with her hand, "But..." she paused in contemplation for a moment, before looking around at the rest of the group.

"He is a good man," she said simply, a sad smile playing on her lips, "I want you all to know that; even if right now he is throwing his weight around and being an arse..."

Silence descended again on the group as they all took a sip of their drinks. If ever there was a time when he wished he was absolutely pissed, thought Merlin, then it would be now.

He wet his lips before breaking the tension, "Well I certainly hope you're right Morgana," he said quietly, before stealing a gaze towards Mordred.

The other man met his eyes and Merlin could see doubt swimming in them as bright as the day, it was clear from the moment that Mordred had heard Arthur's full name that he had reacted adversely to him.

They continued to look at each other for a moment, before Mordred broke his gaze away as he watched one of the men from the opposite booth move over in the direction of the toilets.

"Here's a question for you all," he spoke slowly, still watching the figure retreating across the room, "Has anyone noticed the guys in the other booth have been following and watching us since we arrived at the club?"

They all turned in unison to stare at the remaining man in the booth opposite, who in turn looked up to stare back at them with an even gaze.

"Well one of them is following Arthur into the toilets..."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Absolutely Spiffing!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Regardless that only a mere moment ago, Merlin had been inwardly brooding over the other boy's hurtful comments, he could not deny that a spark of panic had ignited within him when realisation struck that Arthur could be in danger. He met Gwen's eye to see a similar worried glint mirrored back at him. Morgana and Lance on the other hand, had taken one alarmed look up at the man in the opposite booth, before sighing a shaky laugh and taking a further sip of their drinks - body language quickly relaxing.

"Umm... shouldn't we maybe do something?" queried Merlin, his hands braced on the table so as to make to stand up.

"There's no need!" laughed Morgana, prising Gwen's tensed hand off of the table and patting it reassuringly.

"That's Percy sitting over there," continued Lance smiling, holding up a hand in greeting across the room, to which the other giant of a man reciprocated, "and I'd bet you any money that the other guy was Leon; they're Arthur and Morgana's bodyguards!"

There was a pause around the table, as the other three took in this new piece of information.

"You... have bodyguards?" reiterated Mordred as though he was finding it hard to understand the concept; he ran a hand through his hair in disbelief as he leaned back and relaxed into his seat.

"We're the only two children of a multi-billionaire – did you really think we'd just be allowed to wander around wherever we wanted without some form of protection?" Morgana's tone and expression suddenly tired and almost weary, "Hell even you guys must have had your records scanned before you were put in a flat with us!"

Well that was probably the most ironic thing he had ever heard in his life to date! He, Merlin Emrys, a sorcerer, was deemed suitable to live with the children of the richest and most powerful magic-hater on the planet. He was sure his sides would be splitting with laughter had the impact of the situation not been so dangerous. He was being _watched_, quite possibly all the time, by men who were no doubt reporting back to Uther directly!

His insides turned ice cold as a thought suddenly struck him. Had they bugged the flat? Were there cameras? If so then they would have heard the conversation with his mum and also seen the blackout in the hallway to boot!

_Shit_

_Shit_

_SHIT!_

He was struggling to keep himself together; his palms were suddenly pooling with sweat and his heart was beating frantically, bearing on painful. He **had** to remain calm and composed; he would only make things worse...

"So... does that mean we're being watched in the flat?" asked Mordred carefully, his eyes narrowed and tone clipped.

"God no!" exclaimed Lance, as he pulled out his phone to check his messages, "Arthur said they had wanted to of course, but he put his foot down to only having security based in the flat next door and the bodyguards to escort them from a distance."

"Well that's a relief!" sighed Gwen with a shaky laugh, "the thought of having no privacy whatsoever would be horrible!"

Merlin could not have agreed with her more. He was in the clear for now and to say he was relieved would be an understatement! He was beginning to feel mentally exhausted at the various emotional highs and lows he had been experiencing today.

"I expect you were freaking out about the prospect of not being able to have a wank in the shower anymore weren't you Mordred?" asked Morgana, leaning across the table with a smirk; her former cheeky persona having returned.

Mordred looked... well – _mortified_, as Gwen attempted (and failed) to hide her amusement behind a cough and Lance choked on his drink for the second time that evening.

Had Merlin been paying attention at that specific moment in time, he would no-doubtedly have seen Morgana cast a sly wink in his direction; however it was safe to say that his mind was otherwise occupied with the mental image of Mordred in the shower. And my... what an image it was...

He was glad it was dark; and that he was sitting down.

"Oh come now Mordred, there's no need to be shy!" giggled Morgana, obviously enjoying her meddling, "it's perfectly natural and practically all men do it... even Merlin!"

Now it was his turn to splutter into his drink. Morgana would surely pay for this!

Gwen was practically wetting herself in hysterics from her seat next to Morgana; who herself was looking quite smug at the controversy she was causing.

Lance leant backwards and spread his arms onto the top of the booth behind him, his expression deliberately thoughtful, "Well I think it's unfair to claim that it's just the men who do it Morgana... especially after what Arthur told me he found that one time when he was searching in your room for that CD you stole from him!"

Mordred practically doubled over in his seat with laughter as the smugness was wiped from Morgana's face, "Wha- What was it you found?" he choked out in-between gasps.

Lance's grin widened, "You know those rubber –"

"YES YES okay you've made your point!" barked Morgana, although she too was struggling to fight back a smile, "My word, you men are completely impossible sometimes!"

"Well you shouldn't dish out what you can't take Morgana!" piped Merlin, earning him a grin from Mordred.

"I'll have you know," began Morgana pointedly, "that I am perfectly able to... _Oh my!_"

Merlin turned in the direction of her gaze and he too found himself temporarily loosing track of his thought.

Walking across the room towards them was a ruggedly handsome man; probably say in his early 20's. He had dark brown hair which was swept casually into his eyes, stylishly maintained stubble and a strong well defined torso. Practically every pore of his body seemed to be screaming with a roguish arrogance.

Seriously? Did everyone in this place apart from himself happen to be ridiculously attractive or something?

The new man sauntered up to the table and stood there in front of them – almost expectantly with a laddish grin plastered on his face. Nobody moved or said a thing – either too breathless or confused to form coherent words.

After the silence had gone on for slightly longer than could be considered comfortable, the stranger cleared his throat. "I er... believe you were expecting me?"

They all turned to face each other with quizzical expressions on their faces, as though half expecting one of them to suddenly slap a hand to their forehead and remember some prior indication that this man would be joining them. When no one did however, they all turned in unison to the newcomer and continued to stare at him blankly.

"I'm Gwaine?" he offered exasperatedly, the grin on his face turning into a disbelieving grimace in learning that they did know who he was.

"Oh, Arthur's friend who got us the free entrance passes!" exclaimed Gwen, slapping the table as though she were some detective cracking a murder mystery.

"The one and only!" he laughed, whilst demonstrating a mock bow to them all, "And speaking of Arthur; where is the princess?"

"He's urrrmm... He's just gone to the bathroom..." breathed Morgana faintly as she stood up from her seat and held out her hand, "I'm Morgana – nice to make your acquaintance!"

He kissed her hand in greeting and cocked a crooked grin at her, "Ah yeah, he's mentioned his sister of course; but he never said you were such a dazzling specimen of a woman!"

Morgana blushed and giggled – _fucking giggled! – _before sitting down shakily, as though her legs could no longer hold her body weight.

Merlin had wanted a chance to get his revenge on her.

It certainly couldn't get any better than this.

Lance jolted himself into standing, as though afraid if he didn't then the wordless staring would just go on interrupted. "I'm Lance," he said shaking Gwaine's hand, before pointing to the rest of them in turn, "And here we have Gwen, Merlin and Mordred."

Gwaine nodded and smiled at them each in turn, with an additional wink in Gwen's direction.

"Yeah I mentioned to Arthur that I'd probably be popping by at some point this evening," he explained, shoving his hands into his pockets casually, "but I guess he forgot to say."

Mordred snorted in exasperation, "Well yeah I think he's been far too busy being a prick this evening to have had much time to think about anything else!"

Gwaine laughed and clapped his hands together, "Oh I like you, Mordred was it? And yeah that's the princess we all know and love!"

"I think I'll have to get back to you on that one!" chuckled Merlin.

Gwaine thought about this for a moment, before grinning at him lazily, "Merlin yeah? Cool name mate, very... retro!" to which Merlin responded with a smirk and a raise of his glass in thanks, "But I'll tell you what, I'm gonna go get us a few rounds of shots on Arthur's behalf to make up for his terrible excuse for manners!"

Morgana looked horrified at the thought, "We can't let you do that!" she exclaimed shrilly, "You've already gone out of your way to get us free entrance tickets!" The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement and thanks.

It was actually extraordinarily kind of him, thought Merlin to himself, especially seeing as he had never actually met any of them before.

"It's no trouble" shrugged Gwaine, waving away their concern in a manner that should anyone else have tried it would have appeared extremely pompous, "My dad owns this place so it's not as though I actually have to pay for anything anyway!"

With another wink and a grin he sauntered off in the direction of the bar, leaving them all gaping in his wake.

Mordred was the first to break the pause in conversation by standing up suddenly and offering his hand to Merlin, "I'm Morgana," he squeaked in a hilarious imitation of her voice, "It's absolutely spiffing to make your acquaintance!"

It was completely brilliant – he got everything about it spot on, right down to the little giggle.

"Oh shut up Mordred!" snapped Morgana, her mouth twitching in amusement as Gwen and Lance leant on one another for support during their hysterics, "I did not sound like that!"

"Oh you did!" choked Merlin; tears streaming down his cheeks at a dangerous rate.

"I'm Morgana and I'm renouncing all men!" Mordred continued, flicking his imaginary hair and putting his hands onto his hips, "They're disgusting and rude and _Oh my! TAKE ME GWAINE!"_

Even Morgana couldn't hold back her laughter at this and pretty soon they were all sprawled over the table, gasping and clutching their aching abdomens.

"Right okay I do admit that maybe I am ever so slightly attracted to him!" admitted Morgana, "BUT this does not mean I want him to – as you say- take me! ... Not yet anyway!"

"Who's taking you?" asked Arthur sharply as he slid back into his seat; his arrival once again going unnoticed.

They all jumped and turned to look at Morgana in anticipation of her reply.

She grinned brilliantly at her brother, "Oh nobody don't worry... by the way Gwaine popped by; he's getting us free drinks!"

Arthur blanched and stared at her incredulously, "Oh god! Please don't say you've been dribbling over Gwaine?!"

"I think dribbling is a bit of an understatement," muttered Mordred, smirking at Morgana.

"No! No way, I ABSOLUTELY forbid it!" warned Arthur, glaring at her from across the table.

"_You_ don't get a say in who I may or may not fancy," she retorted heatedly, "especially when you've been behaving like a giant arse all evening!"

Merlin watched as an incredibly tense looking Leon passed close by to their table and went to sit back with Percy across the room. Maybe he'd had an argument with Arthur or something?

The current argument was cut short however at the re-arrival of Gwaine, with what must have been around 6 rows of 7 shots balanced in his arms, "Here you go ladies, gents... princess", he joked as he carefully lay them down on the table.

"How many times Gwaine, I am not a princess!" growled Arthur. However regardless he still accepted Gwaine's handshake when he offered and pulled his friend into a tight bear hug.

"Ah just like old times!" proclaimed Gwaine, sitting down at their table. He picked up one of the shots and held it up in the air, "And here's to meeting new people and the good times to come!"

There was a unanimous cheer from around the table as they all joined Gwaine in picking a flavoured shot at random and toasting with each other; all prior animosity temporarily forgotten.

Merlin coughed as the harsh liquid burned at the back of his throat, but that didn't stop him almost immediately reaching for another.

It appeared that Mordred had had the same idea as their hands collided in reaching for the same shot.

"Ah sorry, you take it!" offered Mordred, as he quickly withdrew his hand. Merlin contemplated the rows of shots as his hand continued to tingle from where he had brushed against the other boy. Acting on a spur of the moment he picked up two of the drinks and random and offered one to Mordred, "C'mon, link arms, we'll do one together!"

Mordred grinned as he took one of the shots from him, and crossed his own arm with Merlin's "Ready? 1, 2...3!"

Gwen watched them both cough and splutter with a playfully disapproving expression on her face, "Honestly you boys!"

"Sorry mum!" grinned Merlin.

It was after the 7th shot... and possibly then after his second pint of cider that Merlin began to feel slightly worse for wear. The room was starting to spin and he could feel his personal barriers slipping away around him. Fortunately it appeared that the same could also be said for Arthur, who had so far laughed at several of his jokes and was becoming increasingly better tempered.

As they finished the third round of 'I have never' and Morgana had drunk to admit sunbathing in the nude, a dark silhouette fell upon the table, causing the laughter to die down and the group to peer upwards through the mists of alcohol.

There in front of them stood a tall heavily built man, with close cropped dark hair, cold black eyes and a distasteful sneer upon his face, which quite frankly put Arthur's to shame.

"You alrite mate?" he asked in a gruff voice, swaying slightly as he stood. He had obviously had quite a lot to drink by this point – and that was coming from Merlin, who had up until recently been downing shots like they were Calpol.

"Valliant mate," slurred Arthur, as he unsteadily rose to his feet and clasped the newcomers hand in greeting, "Bout time you showed your face!"

Valliant – as they now knew him – looked blearily around the table at the rest of them, "Who are your friends?"

"Ah don't mind them," dismissed Arthur as he roughly pushed passed Merlin and Mordred to get out of the booth, "C'mon I'll get you a drink!"

They all watched as the two men made their way across the room and were soon swallowed up by the ever increasing crowd taking to the dance floor.

"I didn't know Valliant was here," frowned Lance, his expression that of concern, "I wouldn't have thought he'd have got grades anywhere near what's normally required!"

"Ah yeah but you're forgetting," interjected Gwaine unhappily, "That his daddy dearest is one of Uther's right hand men... Arthur's practically grown up with him!"

Morgana shuddered from her seat across the table, "Urgh he makes my skin crawl!" she spat, "He's a fucked up sadist if you ask me!"

And with that she helped herself to another shot, no doubt as she would probably ascertain later, to calm her nerves.

It didn't take them long to resume their previous state of frivolity, with Lance escorting Gwen up to the bar to buy her round of drinks, while the rest of them entertained themselves by revealing what they wanted to be when they grew up when they were kids (Merlin wanted to be a train driver naturally.) However it couldn't be denied that there was a residual sting left amongst the group, particularly amongst those who had known of Valliant previously. They seemed quite unsettled at the man's presence, although by this point Merlin was too pissed to care why.

When the time came for Merlin to go and get in the drinks, an equally drunk Mordred clasped his hand on his shoulder and joined him in staggering to his feet, "I'll come with ya bud... seein as you owe me a drink for my poor sandwich!"

Merlin hiccupped and laughed as they stumbled across the dance floor together, each attempting to prop up the other with limited success. Even in his drink addled state he was still gleaming a significant amount of enjoyment from being in such close proximity to the other boy – it just felt _right_. They eventually collapsed against the bar and made themselves busy in trying to remember what everybody had ordered whilst they waited to be served.

Somebody roughly tapped Merlin on his shoulder and when he managed to swivel around, he came face to face with Valliant.

Arthur was no-where in sight and he could sense Mordred hovering with a sense of apprehension beside him.

"You're one of Arthur's flatmates aren't ya?" he demanded, his stale breath hitting Merlin squarely in the face. This guy was far too close for comfort.

"So what if I am?" he asked somewhat defensively, whilst struggling to remain alert.

"Let me see..." grinned Valliant menacingly, eyeing him up almost hungrily, "Tall, skinny, sticking out ears... You must be the queer?!"

And with this he reached forward at a surprising speed for one so drunk and tugged painfully hard at the side of Merlin's head, drawing him closer.

"Bet you're gagging for it aren't you?" he taunted, his other hand descending downwards towards Merlin's crotch.

Merlin suddenly felt incredibly sober as his fight-or-flight response kicked in and his magic began charging within him. He couldn't let this happen, not here, not now! But then he daren't risk actually using his magic either... For fucks sake, what was he going to do?!

"Hey back off!" shouted Mordred furiously, his eyes blazing and jaw locked in fury as he shoved Valliant away from him.

Merlin barely had time to offer a nod of thanks before Valliant's fist had collided with Mordred's face and he was staggering sideways onto the floor...


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys, I'm really really sorry I haven't updated in a couple of weeks! It's been so crazy with my placement assessment which has been taking up pretty much all of my time as of late. However, this is now over (yay!) and so hopefully I can spend more time writing again :D Anyway I hope you enjoy and as always, any feedback and reader comments are much appreciated! Thank you for all your support so far!

**Chapter 9 – Here's my number; so call me maybe?**

Merlin could only watch in shock and terror as Mordred was punched to the floor, his head hitting the tiles with a smack loud enough even to be heard over the sound of the pulsing music. As if this wasn't enough, Valliant quickly advanced again and started aiming sharp kicks at Mordred's stomach, causing him to cry out in pain as he feebly attempted to protect himself.

He had to do something now, for Mordred's sake, but apart from using his magic, what could he hope to achieve from tackling a man the size of Valliant?

Well it looked like he was about to find out.

He charged at Valliant as hard as he could, making contact with the snarling brute with his right shoulder and attempted to push him back away from his victim. He did in all honesty achieve some of his goal at least, in that Valliant was distracted from his merciless assault on Mordred; however upon being shoved forcefully backwards onto the floor, it was now also very clear that _he_ was about to become the new target.

He cast his gaze around the room frantically, hoping to catch the eye of someone who would be able to come to his aide and by chance he spotted a familiar head of dazzling blonde hair and a pair of equally striking blue eyes.

"Arthur help us!" he pleaded, almost tearing his voice to make himself heard over the music. Arthur met his gaze briefly and recognition flitted across his expression, before to Merlin's dismay, he wavered, and then turned his head in the pretence that he had not seen what was going on.

Merlin felt his blood boil hot with rage and with it, his magic reared to almost unbearable levels. He could feel himself losing control with each passing second and was also extremely aware of Valliant's quickly advancing form.

Just before the larger man reached him, he cast a look over at Mordred; his body still slumped onto the floor and his gaze, which although was flickering and faulting, was still saturated with concern for Merlin's safety.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" roared a thundering voice, causing everyone in the immediate vicinity to jump and turn to face the newcomer.

With the speed and strength of a professional rugby player, Arthur's imposing bodyguard Leon caught Valliant in a tackle and pushed him backwards to pin him against the bar.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME YOU DICK!" spat Valliant as he squirmed and twisted against his challenger's grip. He was by no means lacking in muscle and strength; however he was puny in comparison to the other man and posed no risk of breaking free anytime soon.

"Are you alright Merlin?" came a quieter voice from next to Merlin's ear. He turned sharply to come face to face with Percy, whose expression was blatantly one of genuine concern.

"Y-Yeah," stammered Merlin as he pushed himself shakily to his feet, his magic receding almost sulkily as he did so. He dreaded to think what might have happened had the two bodyguards not intervened.

"We need to get Mordred out of here," he gestured, pointing to the other man who was still motionless on the floor, a trickle of blood seeping from his temple.

Percy nodded in understanding, before they both hooked an arm each beneath the semi-conscious Mordred's shoulders and helped him to his feet. They staggered awquardly in the direction of the exit, in search of quieter, less crowded surroundings and fresher air.

As they moved through the packed room, Merlin spotted Morgana and the others leaving the booth and making their way towards the sound system – no doubt to dance the rest of the night away.

He thought about attracting their attention, before with a pang he remembered he was yet to acquire any of their phone numbers and so a text was out of the question.

It wasn't worth him ruining their evening anyway; he would be able to inform them of what had happened in the morning for certain.

The cool summer night air hit them as they eventually managed to get outside and Merlin was grateful to take the opportunity to fill his lungs with it, flushing out the stale odour of sweat and alcohol.

Mordred also seemed to appreciate the change in atmosphere, as he suddenly pulled himself away from the two of them and stumbled of his own accord to a nearby waste bin, where he began throwing up in earnest.

"Nice," grimaced Percy, breathing deeply and leaning backwards against some iron railing which surrounded some elegant looking shrubbery, "I've been dreading the Pendragon student years ever since I started on the job; nothing but hormones and puke!"

Merlin coughed apologetically as he wiped the sheen of sweat off his forehead, "Well to be honest he has had quite a bang to head, so it probably isn't all alcohol induced..."

He had a sudden flashback of the numerous colourful shots they had drunk between the two of them that evening, "...Okay yeah it is probably more than likely the booze."

Percy chuckled weakly and rolled his blue eyes comically. They stood momentarily in silence, apart from the occasional retch coming from the direction of the bin. On further examination of the bodyguard, Merlin decided, he didn't actually seem that menacing. I mean, sure he had muscles which could probably break him in half should their owner have so wished; but he had a kind face and a somewhat quiet and thoughtful demeanour.

"Big friendly giant..." he whispered musingly to himself.

"What's that?" queried Percy, who seemed to have got over his squeamishness, now that it seemed Mordred had retched up the majority of his stomach contents.

"I was just saying thanks," corrected Merlin hurriedly, cracking a genuine smile at the other man, "If you guys hadn't of come along I would probably be dead by now!"

"Don't mention it", waved Percy, before his previously relaxed persona turned serious, "I'd try and steer clear of Valiant in future though – he's bad news and I mean bad. It's only really due to his father's close connections with Uther that Arthur hangs around with him."

"Don't talk to me about that prat," spat Merlin angrily, "No offence," he added quickly, "Seeing as you work for him and all."

"None taken," replied Percy ceremoniously, "Look Merlin..."

"-No, I'm sorry Percy but... he just _stood there_!" fumed Merlin, his teeth gritted together almost painfully.

"I know, I know," soothed Percy, holding his hands up, "And I'm not condoning what he did, but in all seriousness, if he'd tried it on with Valliant then he'd more than likely have ended up taking a punch to the floor as well and he's one of his friends!"

Merlin contemplated this briefly and bit down onto his lip, "He could have at least tried to talk to him and calm him down..."

Deep down he half understood what Percy was trying to tell him – Valliant was obviously some sort of psycho and when he got into a rage, then practically nothing would be able to stop him from getting his way. The thing that really got him however, was that Valliant had called him a queer – which means that Arthur must have told him. If Arthur had known how unstable his mate was when he was pissed, then why would he even broach the subject? Unless... Arthur was more of a homophobic twat than he first thought... maybe he wanted this to happen?

On the threat of his magic beginning to bubble up once more, Merlin shook his head and tried not to think in such a way. This could be sorted in the morning.

Right now he had Mordred to look after.

"Do you think he needs to get to the hospital?" he asked unsurely as Percy shuffled over towards Mordred and began checking the wound on his head and feeling his ribs, "I was hoping just to take him back to the flat."

"I wouldn't think so," the older man replied slowly, "the cut isn't really that deep and his ribs don't seem broken, but keep an eye on him for sure. If anything worries you then definitely get him to A&E."

Merlin nodded and walked round to stand next to Mordred. His eyes were closed and he breathing in sharp shallow breaths, the pain no doubt flaring as he inhaled.

"Hey Percy," he added as the bodyguard made to return to the club, "Can you let Morgana and the others know that I'm taking Morded home? Just make it seem like he's had a bit too much to drink or something."

"Well that's certainly true for both of you!" winked Percy, "But yeah no probs, I'll pass on your message. You guys keep safe okay?"

He halted in his path and redoubled on himself, walking back towards Merlin, "Here," he said, holding out a business card, "It's got my number on it; just give me a call if you get into any bother on the way back."

"Thanks," smiled Merlin meekly, "for everything."

Percy gave a curt yet friendly nod, before he returned into the darkness of the Rising Sun.

He turned his attention back to Mordred, who was still standing slumped over one of the bins.

He sighed to himself and hooked one of his arms under his shoulder, forcing him into an upright(ish) standing position.

With his other hand he reached over and gave him a gentle slap on the cheek so as to bring him round a bit more.

Mordred's eyes flickered open and he looked over at Merlin with confusion.

"You've had a bit of a rough night," smiled Merlin warmly, "But don't worry coz I'm gonna help you get back to the flat okay?"

The other boy nodded meekly and together they stumbled in the direction of the halls.

Very little was exchanged in terms of conversation, apart from an occasional prompting from Merlin that Mordred keep his eyes open and move his feet a bit more.

The closer they got to Camelot Halls, the heavier Mordred seemed to become on Merlin's shoulder, until eventually, just as they had made it into the building, he sunk to his knees and would not get up, regardless of how much Merlin shook him.

Merlin pressed the back of his hand to his head in exasperation as he stood and caught his breath. This was clearly a problem, and they were so close as well. He cast around for anyone who might be able to help him and noted with frustration that the security desk was unmanned, leaving only the flatscreen tv blaring a 24 hour news channel in the background

He bent down in front of Mordred and pressed their foreheads together, mentally willing him to stay awake so he could help him upstairs.

'_C'mon Mordred... work with me here yeah? You've gotta stay awake!'_

Almost immediately the room turned silent around him, including the tv which continued to flash and flicker in detailing world events. He fleetingly felt the obscure horrible loneliness, the same as he did earlier, before that familiar blue light burst into his mind and seemed to encompass the entirety of his consciousness.

'_Okay Merlin...'_

Like before, the whole experience was over almost as soon as it had begun and the world around him blared back into sound.

That was Mordred's voice.

Mordred's voice in his head.

Fuck. He was cracking up.

He opened his eyes – which he didn't remember closing in the first place – and was startled to see Mordred in the act of standing unsteadily, he grey eyes bleary, yet attempting to focus.

Without thinking he darted forwards and positioned himself so that Mordred could support himself on him, one hand on his upper back, the other on his waist.

Almost comically, the security guard appeared back at his desk from the bathroom just off to the side and did a double-take at the two young men stumbling across the entrance room.

"He doesn't look too good if you ask me mate," piped the guard, as he sat down to resume drinking his cup of black coffee.

"Yeah I noticed," retorted Merlin bluntly, "And he's about to look a lot worse after having to climb all those stairs to get to the top floor!"

"Why not just take the lift?" the man grumbled, "We didn't get them fixed especially this evening at an extra charge just for people to use the stairs..."

"Oh... er thanks?" offered Merlin, taking an apologetic glance to the guard, who was already re-immersed in watching the television.

Sometimes he just didn't understand people.

The pair of them stumbled to the far side of the room and Merlin let go of Mordred's waist momentarily to press the 'up' button, before placing it securely back on. Of course it was purely to support his friend...

The doors opened quickly and they stepped inside and with another press of a button, the doors shut smoothly and the lift sped upwards to the 10th floor.

Merlin took this time to look over his and Mordred's reflections in the large mirror on the far side of the lift. God they both looked a mess. Yet Mordred, even though he was bleeding, bruised and had a grimy stain on his shirt from leaning up against the bins, still managed to make Merlin's stomach flip at being in such close proximity.

If he hadn't of tried to protect Merlin, then he wouldn't have been in this state. The guilt clenched in his chest momentarily, before it relinquished somewhat at the warming realisation that Mordred must have thought him worth standing up for, even though Valliant had practically just outed him. Maybe... Mordred still wanted to know him then?

"_Tenth Floor,"_ came a cool female voice through the speakers and soon after, the metal doors opened quietly to reveal the hallway.

Ensuring he had an extra tight grip on Mordred, Merlin led the way to the right, until coming to a halt outside of the clean white door to flat 101.

Fumbling in his jean pocket he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, before helping Mordred inside. The front door closed with a click behind them, indicating that it had locked, as Merlin came to a halt in the short space in-between his and Mordred's bedrooms.

He considered putting him into his proper bed, before deciding against it. If something happened to his condition in the night then he wanted to know about it. He owed him that much at least.

He awquardly unlocked his own door and supported Mordred as they ventured into his room.

Flicking the lights on with his elbow, he managed to stumble over to his bed, before slowly helping Mordred into a sitting position.

Dazed grey eyes met blue and Merlin crouched down in front of his friend.

"You're gonna bunk with me for tonight so I can keep an eye on you yeah?" asked Merlin tentatively, "Don't worry I won't molest you or anything!"

Mordred snorted at this and smiled faintly, "I'm just happy to be with you."

Merlin grinned openly in return, not fully convinced that Mordred knew exactly what he was saying.

His eyes were drawn down to Mordred's formerly white shirt smeared with bin grime and puke. No way was he having that stuff all over his freshly changed bed. He ducked to his left to the chest of drawers under his desk and pulled out an old worn blue t-shirt which he sometimes wore to bed in winter.

"Here," he said, offering it out to Mordred wearily, "You might wanna change into this before you go to bed."

Mordred nodded slightly before beginning to unbutton his shirt, his fingers fumbling as he made slow work of it.

Merlin didn't know where to look.

Should he leave the room?

He had just decided upon temporarily taking refuge in the bathroom, when Mordred said his name, drawing his attention back to him.

"D'you mind helping with the buttons?" he slurred, one hand brought up to massage his sore forehead, which thankfully had stopped bleeding, "I can't get my fingers to work."

Looks like he was going to be staying after all then.

He moved forwards cautiously and began swiftly unbuttoning Mordred's shirt, slowly revealing more and more of his pale torso. Once the last button had been released, Mordred took this as a cue to shrug the rest of the shirt off entirely and dump into onto the floor.

From his position kneeling on the floor, Merlin couldn't help but have a quick stare at Mordred's toned chest, which was finely scattered with dark hair that travelled downwards towards his navel. In any other instance Merlin was fairly sure he would have been ridiculously hot under the collar right now, but the moment he saw the faint ugly blotches beginning to appear along Mordred's sides, his mind was overcome with nothing but horror.

He quickly helped Mordred on with the t-shirt and removed his shoes and socks, before lying the other boy down and pulling the covers up over him.

"Right, I'm gonna go get you a glass of water and a bucket okay? Please don't chunder on my duvet, it's brand new!"

Mordred grunted in acknowledgement, his eyes already closing and the tension in his face resolving.

Merlin dithered slightly, not wanting to leave him, before he sped out into the kitchen; grabbing two glasses of ice cold water and the bucket from the store cupboard.

By the time he got back into the room and set down his cargo, Mordred was snoring softly into his pillow.

Merlin smiled endearingly as he locked the door, quickly checked his phone and climbed into the opposite end of the bed, so that they were top and tailing.

He chuckled to himself as he imagined what his mum would have had to say about this sleeping arrangement and he flicked out the lights with his big toe.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – In need of a haircut**

Merlin woke with a start; the ringing of those same words echoing through his mind – "_He gave me no choice..." _

After checking the time on his alarm clock, he clamped his hands over his ears and screwed up his eyes as his head throbbed uncomfortably. Fucking hell; how much did he have to drink last night? His throat burned and prickled as recollections of numerous shots flashed through his memory. Oh...hell...

The bed shifted next to him, causing him to freeze.

_Shit_ Please don't say he pulled?!

He squinted to the left through his eyelashes and after being momentarily dazzled by the morning light cascading through the crack in the curtains, he managed to make out a pair of pale feet.

He sighed in relief – Of course, Mordred!

Merlin propped himself up slowly on his elbows and watched the other boy breathing gently. He certainly seemed okay – his expression was soft and peaceful. He looked so young when he was asleep, thought Merlin, even with the trickle of dried blood still on his temple and the morning stubble dusting his jawline.

He gently swivelled his legs off of the bed, so as to not disturb the duvet and wake him, and pulled himself into sitting over the edge. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror in the opposite wall.

To say he had bed hair was an understatement. The sweat from the club must have wet the gel in his hair and then dried on his head as he slept. The man looking back at him in his reflection looked as though he had a massive bat nesting on his head. He needed that haircut...

He eased himself into standing and crept to his ensuite. He might as well have a quick shower; that way he won't give Mordred a heart attack when he eventually comes around; that and he could take care of the very awkward tenting going on his trousers. If waking up in Merlin's bed didn't freak Mordred out enough, then seeing Merlin lying next to him with an erection would most definitely do the job.

He flicked on the light and turned on the shower; letting it run until the temperature became hot and steamy. He shrugged off his clothes and got in eagerly, allowing the water to wash away the grime on his skin. He took himself in hand and having closed his eyes, masturbated himself quickly to completion,;the image of Mordred sleeping in his bed fresh in his mind as he came.

He lent against the white tile wall as he caught his breath - Right okay so maybe Morgana did have a point and he was attracted to Mordred.

Just a bit of course.

He continued to scrub himself down with his various shower gels and shampoos, before stepping out of the cubicle and grabbing a towel to dry himself off.

It was only now that he wished that he'd brought his clothes in with him.

He wrapped the towel around his waist and tucked it in securely, before running his hand back through his damp hair and sweeping it out of his eyes.

He opened the door and stepped back into his bedroom. Mordred would still be asleep no doubt.

Or not as it seemed.

The other boy had sat himself up shakily in bed and was now propped up at an angle against the wall with his eyes clenched shut in the daylight.

Merlin could feel the tips of his ears burning red as he crept across the room towards his desk, hoping that he could duck in and out of the room without being seen.

"Merlin?"

He froze in his tracks and mentally cursed himself as he turned on the spot, to smile at his guest.

Mordred was shakily attempting to stand, his grey eyes fixed on Merlin as he did so, making him feel somewhat body conscious.

He got to his feet and stumbled slightly, causing Merlin to step forwards quickly to offer his stability; a thrill passing down his spine as Mordred clasped a hand on his bare shoulder.

'Woah there take it easy yeah?" he suggested softly as Mordred slowly regained his balance, "You had a pretty hard time of it last night!"

Once it was apparent that he could stand unsupported, Merlin backed away hastily, the contact between almost burning his exposed skin.

"I remember... being in the club," frowned Mordred as he spoke slowly, "We went to get drinks and then there was that bloke; the big one – Valliant yeah? He groped you and –"

"And you stepped in to help me," confirmed Merlin grimacing whilst nodding in agreement, "Then he turned on you and punched and kicked you to the floor for your troubles..."

Mordred must have seen the flash of guilt on Merlin's face as he laughed shakily, his hand rubbing the back of his head, "Then... I don't really remember much from that point, other than you shouting at someone for help and one of the bodyguards helping us outside..."

"Yeah," agreed Merlin, "that sounds about right and you were chundering like hell into the bins outside!"

They both laughed at this easily, although both oddly embarrassed enough to avoid eye contact.

"So... I'm guessing Arthur got his bodyguards to help keep Valliant at bay while we got out?" queried Mordred, "I'm just planning ahead for the various people I'm probably gonna be thanking today!"

Merlin looked up at this question, although his reply died in his throat. Did he really want to tell Mordred what really happened? Regardless he'd probably find out anyway at some point...

"Not... exactly no..." he ventured, choosing his words carefully, "I did call to Arthur to help but –"

"Ah," interrupted Mordred bluntly, closing his eyes, "But let me guess; he didn't want to damage his image in front of his mates so he just ignored you?"

"Pretty much," admitted Merlin quietly, "... Are you okay?"

"I've been better," scoffed the other boy, "Sorry," he added quickly, grey eyes darting upwards, "I didn't mean to snap at you, it isn't your fault... I just can't believe he'd just let Valliant do that to me!"

"I don't really know what to say," offered Merlin weakly, "I'm not really sure where we all go from here either?"

"It's not the sort of thing that'll just go away," replied Mordred flatly, his hands balled up into fists, "I won't forget this, and I certainly won't be forgiving him anytime soon; that brute could have killed me!"

They stood in silence for what seemed an eternity, as Merlin watched Mordred continue to shake with a suppressed anger, until eventually he took a deep breath and seemed to come to himself once more.

"Where's my shirt by the way?" he asked, his voice suddenly tired.

"Oh!" exclaimed Merlin, before he spun around, keeping a tight grip on his towel as he did so and picked the shirt off of the floor from the night before, "Yeah... you kinda got bin grime and puke on it so I thought it'd be best if you changed into one of my old shirts."

Mordred nodded in agreement as he shortened the distance between them in order to take back the grubby piece of clothing, "Thanks, I don't think I'd have really appreciated sleeping in that to be honest!"

Without warning he shrugged off the t-shirt he was wearing, revealing once more those purpling bruises and leaving them both standing shirtless in the middle of the room.

The atmosphere in the room became suddenly static and Merlin was acutely aware of every breath he took; feeling them catch and hitch in his chest as a trickle of water from the shower slipped down over his clavicle.

Mordred must also have felt a change in the air, as he stood briefly, looking at Merlin as though watching the progress of the water droplet as it ran down his body; his lips twitching slightly as though he was conflicted somehow.

"Thanks," he repeated again, holding the t-shirt out towards Merlin, breaking the tension in the air and causing Merlin to snap back into real-time.

"N- No problem," stuttered Merlin, the tips of his ears burning hotly.

"I err... should probably go have a shower myself," suggested Mordred, wincing as he caught sight of his dishevelled appearance in the wall length mirror.

Merlin laughed as he took back his t-shirt, "Yeah it certainly helps!" he agreed, "And I'm speaking from experience!"

Mordred chuckled as he made his way to the door, closely followed by Merlin

"So I'll probably see you around later?" he asked glancing around as he opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

"Yeah absolutely" Merlin grinned.

Mordred flashed one of his small smiles and after what Merlin perceived as a slightly lingering look, he unlocked his own door and moved inside.

The door had barely shut behind him, when a poorly suppressed squeal came from the other end of the hallway and Morgana launched herself towards him, her hands flapping with excitement.

"Oh my god!" she mouthed, her eyes wide as she pointed towards Mordred's door, "He came from your room; did you guys? –"

"It wasn't like that - nothing happened!" whispered Merlin hurriedly.

"Right okay and so I catch you both shirtless leaving your bedroom after a night out in which you both mysteriously disappeared in the early hours and you're expecting me to believe that nothing happened?" she squeaked, disbelief evident in her voice. "And by the way, don't you _ever_ eat?!"

Choosing to ignore this blatant referral as to how skinny he was, Merlin grabbed Morgana by the arm and pulled her into his room, "C'mon I'll fill you in..."

By the time he'd elaborated on the real reason why he and Mordred had left the club early, Morgana was as white as a ghost, which was saying something considering her usual pale complexion.

"Oh Arthur you complete and utter prat!" she moaned to herself, "I warned him about Valliant!" she cried, "But did he listen? - Of course not because daddy knows best apparently!"

She seemed almost on the verge of hysterics, which to be frankly honest, Merlin didn't think he could cope with after the night he'd just had.

"And Valliant called you that in front of Mordred of all people oh sweetie I'm so sorry!" she gasped, clutching her face with her freshly painted nails.

Merlin shrugged, "Well he didn't mention it to me this morning, so I'm hoping he's okay with the whole gay thing... or maybe he hasn't put two and two together yet?"

This earned him a sceptical look from Morgana. She was right of course in her unspoken words – Mordred seemed far too bright to not have picked up on it by now.

"I'm more concerned about how Valliant found out in the first place..." he mumbled sadly, throwing himself down onto his bed.

Morgana sat down next to him and patted his hand sympathetically, "Arthur's done many a stupid thing in his time, but I think this has got to top them all off!" she sighed, "I can't believe he could be so ignorant as to let Valliant, who's homophobic enough when he's sober, know something like that in the state he was in!"

"Well it's done now isn't it," shrugged Merlin, attempting to produce a convincing smile.

Morgana of course saw right through it.

"Most importantly Merlin," she asked, "Are _you_ okay, never mind Mordred?"

Merlin broke his gaze away to stare at the blue wall opposite, "I'm fine I guess... I mean... I just thought I'd managed to escape that kind of treatment here you know? That people were more accepting of someone for being gay in Albion."

"Most are I'm sure, "soothed Morgana reassuringly, "but I'm afraid Valliant is always going to be the exception to that rule..."

Merlin frowned to himself, remembering her immediately negative attitude towards Valliant's presence last night.

"What did he do, in the past I mean, to make you so hate him so much?"

Now it was Morgana's turn to look away, her expression momentarily clouded as she struggled to find the right words to explain.

"It's not so much one particular thing, more so a continuous stream things which all contribute to the fact that he's a sadist, who seems to delight in causing others pain and misery... His father's extremely wealthy and very influential, which is probably why Uther's so keen for him and Arthur to be best buddies."

"A sadist?" repeated Merlin, hoping to prompt her into revealing a more detailed account.

"When we were 15 he was caught by a teacher carving his initials into the hand of another boy with the fang of one of his pet snakes", she continued flatly, "It turns out that that was the tip of years worth of harassment and abuse on Valliant's part and when the doctors checked the other lad over they found numerous scars, some of them still fresh and obviously infected with venom... It turned out he was gay and that Valliant had taken it upon himself to make his life a living hell," she added sadly.

Merlin could almost feel the colour draining from his face, "Fuck, that's just... _fuck_!"

"Oh the stories I could tell you about Valliant," Morgana smiled grimly, " But the worst thing is that he never has to pay for the things he does, because his father scares the shit out everyone so much that nobody in their right mind would dare press charges."

They sat in silence for a while, whilst Merlin took the time to absorb this latest piece of disturbing information.

It was only when Merlin shivered slightly that Morgana jumped to her senses and stood up suddenly, "Anyway I should really leave you to put some clothes on; you're starting to make me feel cold!"

Merlin chuckled softly and stood up to follow her suit, "Yeah I should really get going, the barbers will probably be closed by the time I get down otherwise... and I still haven't eaten yet!"

"You should ask Gwen if she could cut it for you," she suggested offhandedly, "She was telling me last night that she always cut her dad and brother's hair at home – she was planning to do it here too to earn a bit of extra cash now and then."

Merlin nodded enthusiastically, "Wow yeah that'd be awesome if she could."

He paused in thought before asking tentatively, "Are you gonna say anything to her or Lance about what happened?"

Morgana shook her head sharply, "I don't think it's worth it for now really, but I will be having a word with my brother when I see him don't you worry!"

She gave him a friendly peck on the cheek and looked into his eyes one more time as though to determine if he really was okay, before she left him alone in his room to change.

Merlin hung his towel up on the back of his door, before pulling on some loose fitting jogging bottoms and an equally baggy t-shirt. He really couldn't be bothered making much of an effort today; especially with what he considered as the mother of all hangovers coming on.

He left his room and knocked gently on Gwen's door, waiting patiently as he heard her light footsteps padding across the floor towards him.

"Merlin!" she exclaimed with delight upon seeing him, "God you're looking rough... no offence!"

"None taken!" he chuckled; it was impossible not to see her kind face grinning at him like that and not crack a smile himself.

"We missed you last night," she continued, her eyes searching his face for his reaction, "Was Mordred okay after feeling sick?"

Before he had chance to reply, the door to Lance's room opened and Arthur swaggered out into the hallway, only to freeze upon realising Merlin was there.

It was only natural of course that at this precise moment, a recently showered Mordred should have chosen to tenderly walk through the kitchen door with a bowl of cereal in hand.

He also stopped in his tracks and Merlin noted the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.

Arthur cleared his throat, "So... you're okay then?" he asked almost bluntly.

"No thanks to you, you prick," replied Mordred hotly.

Merlin glanced towards Gwen as he heard her gasp quietly.

"Look, it wasn't my fault!" spluttered Arthur adamantly, "What the hell was I meant to do?"

"Anything!" hissed Mordred furiously as he stormed up to his door, "Anything rather than just sit back and watch like a fucking coward!"

This obviously struck a nerve as Arthur balled up his fists and made to advance upon the other boy; however he was interrupted by a shrill cough.

Morgana stuck her head out of her room, an eyebrow raised disdainfully and her voice dangerous, "Arthur my dearest... would you mind stepping in here for a little chat? I'd be ever so grateful..."

Arthur froze in his tracks and reluctantly backed away towards his sister.

"You want to choose your friends more carefully Pendragon," snarled Mordred, "But I assure you that I won't be forgetting this anytime soon!"

Then with an echoing slam, both men retreated into the respective rooms and shoved the doors shut behind them.

"Merlin... have I missed something?" Gwen asked anxiously, her face masked with confusion.

"It's really not worth concerning yourself over to be honest Gwen," he sighed, managing a small reassuring smile as walked past her into her room, "Besides, I've come to ask you for your services – I hear you know a thing or two about hairdressing?"

Gwen smiled to herself as she shut the door, but she wasn't going to be distracted that easily.

"I sure do" she acknowledged, nodding slightly, "however as payment you're going to tell me everything about what just happened there..."

Merlin grimaced. Ah shit.

But he did really need this haircut...


	11. Chapter 11

Hey guys, I've managed to cough out a slightly longer chapter this time round, so I hope you enjoy. Apologies in advance for any spelling errors! As always, thank you so much for all the amazing people who've been leaving reviews/pms; you are the driving force behind my motivation to write when I could otherwise be watching videos of goats on YouTube :P

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Déjà vu**

Needless to say, after such an eventful first night out, the rest of the university introductory week could have been considered comparatively dull.

Not that Merlin minded in the slightest.

Other than several supermarket trips and the odd night out to the local tavern, there seemed to be an unspoken understanding amongst the group that they would stay away from the majority of the main student gatherings. Merlin heavily suspected this was partially due to Morgana announcing over dinner earlier in the week, that Leon had informed her that Valliant would be suffering no penalty for his actions and was still roaming the student bars at will.

They had spent the remainder of the evenings when they stayed inside, playing Monopoly or watching films – albeit they generally seemed to be romance themed, much to the chagrin of the men of the flat. As a result, Merlin, Mordred and Lance spent a majority of the time during these evenings playing cards and talking, while Gwen and Morgana bawled their eyes out to the end of the likes of Pride and Prejudice.

Arthur needless to say, was not part of these festivities; choosing to spend his time instead with his mates, who Morgana liked to refer to sarcastically as his knights of the round table. On further explanation it was gleamed that this was based on the fact that most of their fathers sat together with Uther around the same board table during business meetings. Merlin had so far been able to tolerate being in the kitchen with the other boy, but they never spoke if they could help it; apart from asking the other to move when wanting to open a drawer or get to the sink.

Mordred on the other hand refused to even acknowledge Arthur's existence; avoiding all eye contact and certainly not speaking to him on any level – an arrangement which seemed to suit both party's perfectly.

Merlin had rarely been alone with Mordred since that first night, although he would frequently sense the other boy's gaze on him when they were with the others.

There had also been no further mention about Merlin being gay.

Although he was happy that it didn't seem to have proven an issue; the fact that it remained unspoken was still a burden for Merlin - as though it was sitting stubbornly on his back and weighing him down.

He was also growing increasingly concerned regarding the manner in which his magic had been behaving lately. This had certainly never happened to him before and the fact that it was happening within Camelot halls was increasingly dangerous, considering the implementations this would have for him. There had been two further occasions now where he had woken during the night; struck with that inconceivable loneliness and blinded with that same pulsing light behind his eyelids. The first night it happened he lay motionless, until eventually the light dimmed and faded. Then, a couple of nights later it happened again, however this time, curiosity gained the better of him. He forced his thoughts forwards towards the light, causing it to warp and flare in alarm and create a blinding pain in his skull. By the time he had sat up in alarm, gritting his teeth in agony, the presence had vanished, leaving him quite alone in his head.

He had heard a muffled bang from next door; Mordred's room, as though someone had fallen out of bed. He strained his ears for any further disturbance, but there was none to be heard.

It was now evening – the last evening before the first term at AUA began for its students. Earlier in the day Morgana had excitedly announced that they should celebrate their last night of freedom by watching 'Sex and the City', which could be easily sourced from Gwen's DVD collection.

The only reasonable thing to do then was to steal the thing from her room and hide it when the girls weren't looking. To say the least; they were going to need every brain cell they had for their courses and were not prepared to have them all killed off in one night.

Gwen and Morgana had searched frantically for it to no avail, resulting in Lance suggesting with a guarded expression and a shrug that perhaps it was for the best and that they should all probably aim for an early night anyway.

This was how it came to be that Merlin spent the evening sitting in his room, consuming a very luxurious meal of beans and cheese on toast, whilst chatting to Will via webcam.

"Oh and before I sign off," interjected Will, wincing as he did so, "Your mum came round for tea the other day and as I walked through the living room to get some crisps from the kitchen she started going on about how she didn't mean to embarrass me with the whole 'dogging' thing; then my mum asked what it was and they started googling it and –"

"Woah okay Will I'm just gonna stop you there!" exclaimed Merlin, holding his hands up in alarm, "I really don't think I need any more mental scarring tonight of all nights yeah?"

Will had to laugh at this, although he still mimicked clawing out his eyes whilst on camera, "Urgh it was bad Merlin and I mean really bad; I need that therapy for my birthday yeah?"

After promising to his friend and making his goodbyes, Merlin signed off with a grin on his face.

He made his way to the en-suite and brushed his teeth, before deciding that he should really take his dirty plate out to the kitchen to be washed.

The flat was silent as he padded down the hallway, although the kitchen light was still on, indicating that somebody must be in there.

As he entered the room, he was met with Mordred waiting for the kettle to boil; a tub of hot chocolate powder open beside him. He was wearing a pair of loose grey pj bottoms which hung low on his hips and a sleeveless pale blue vest. He was of course barefoot as had become an ongoing jest between them and frankly just seeing him turn and smile was enough to make Merlin's heart flutter in his chest.

"So are you looking forward to tomorrow?" Mordred asked lightly, whilst leaning back against the worktop casually.

"Yeah I guess," shrugged Merlin as he made his was over to the sink and began filling it with hot soapy water, "I'm not looking forward to all the work though! But at least we're only in for the morning for the first day."

"Urgh I know the feeling," groaned Mordred, "I've heard that I'm probably gonna be set my first assignment in a couple of weeks!"

"Ouch!" empathised Merlin grimly, "And speaking of injury... how's the bruising?"

Mordred rubbed the left side of his ribs absentmindedly as he lifted the boiled kettle off of its pedestal and began pouring himself his drink, "Urrr yeah they're much better thanks; not purple anymore at least!"

Merlin nodded with a smile and the continued to work on their separate tasks in silence.

"About... the other night," began Mordred tentatively, as Merlin turned round in interest, "I was wondering if you were okay – you know after what Valliant said to you."

Merlin felt as though his heart had jumped up into his throat as he tried to reply, "I err, yeah I mean I think so, you get used to it I guess after a while..."

"So... is it true? I mean the being gay part?"

Mordreds's grey eyes were unreadable as he waited for his reply.

"Yeah," breathed Merlin cautiously, eyeing carefully for Mordred's reaction, "But don't worry I'm not into handbags or anything like that!"

Mordred chuckled at this, before looking at Merlin seriously, "It's fine – more than fine by the way; you don't need to look so worried!"

Merlin shook himself and grinned shyly, before turning back to his washing up so as to hide the blush he could feel spreading across his cheeks.

"By the way, what happened to Gwen's DVD?" asked Mordred, changing the subject quickly.

"I think Lance has it; no doubt he'll sneak it back into her room in a few days."

Mordred laughed out loud at this as he walked towards the door with his hot chocolate, "Not that he needs any excuse to want to sneak into Gwen's room ey?"

They both turned to look at each other and smirked in amusement.

The bid each other goodnight and Merlin once more turned around to finish off drying his plate up.

"Merlin?"

He almost jumped out of his skin and dropped the plate.

He whipped around startled and realised that Mordred was still in the doorway, looking at the floor awkwardly.

"I... was wondering if maybe you wanted to grab a coffee after uni tomorrow? - say around lunchtime; my treat, you know to say thanks for, well everything really."

Merlin tried not to look too eager as he replied, "Yeah of course, that'd be... _great_!"

A flicker of relief flashed over Mordred's face and Merlin could almost swear he could see a pink tinge appearing across his cheek bones.

"Cool, well I'll text you when I've finished my lectures and maybe we can arrange a time and place?"

Merlin nodded in reply, immensely grateful that they all finally got round to exchanging phone numbers.

Mordred slipped quietly from the room and left Merlin smiling to himself at the sink.

So Mordred was okay with him being gay... to say he was relieved was an understatement!

* * *

The next morning, Merlin woke up at 7.30 on the dot, bleary eyed and delirious. Man he hadn't gotten up this early in ages!

He showered and dressed himself, before heading out to the kitchen to prepare himself some cereal. Upon returning to his room munching on his coco pops, he checked his phone and noted that his mum had sent him a text message.

From: Mum 7.05 am

_Hi honey, just a little text to say good luck for your first day : ) Also I was having a little look at your university prospectus last night and noticed that Professor Gaius is your tutor. I had no idea! He's an old family friend so make sure to say hello from me! Mum xxx_

He sighed with a smile and typed his reply.

From: Merlin 7.45 am

_Hey mum, thanks :) I'll try but I'm not gonna walk in and give him a hug or anything – that'd be wierd. I've never heard of him before though?_

It would be approximately a 15 minute walk to get to his lecture hall and he thought he'd be wise to make sure he got there a few minutes early, considering it was the first day and all.

He wouldn't have to leave for another 10 minutes and so he busied himself by checking he had packed everything he would need for the day, including his wallet if he was going to be meeting Mordred for a coffee later on.

When the time came, he grabbed his bag and locked his door, before heading down in the lift, which thankfully was still functioning at this point.

He slipped on a pair of sunglasses in the early morning sun as he followed the sign posts to the Mercia lecture theatres.

As he arrived in into his allocated room, he was struck at how busy the room was already. There were practically no spaces and he felt mildly jealous of the others in the flat, who at least could all attend their first biology lecture together.

He walked aimlessly down one of the aisles, looking for a spare seat, until eventually he spotted one, next to a fresh faced girl with dark brown hair and pale green eyes who was grimacing in irritation at the rather loud and outspoken group of girls to her left.

"Urr Hi?" he asked tentatively, pointing to the seat, "Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Oh please do!" gushed the girl with undoubted enthusiasm, "You are literally a life saver; I don't think I would have been able to survive another 5 minutes listening to those lot", she pointed behind over her shoulder.

"I'm Merlin," he grinned, offering his hand, to which she shook eagerly, "Freya, nice to meet you!"

He took his seat and pulled out his pad and pen, whilst Freya discussed the various types of literature she thought they might be studying first.

"So where about are you staying this year Merlin?" she asked, as an old man with shoulder length grey hair trudged in through the doors with a pile of books.

"I'm in Camelot Halls, 10th floor" he replied, "I got in with a scholarship, how about you?"

"Same here!" she beamed, "Well... apart from the floor; I'm down on the 5th. Do you get on with your flatmates okay?"

Merlin stretched his arms backwards over his head, revelling in hearing his joints click with relief, "Yeah they're nice enough, well apart from Arthur but we're civil I guess."

"Not Arthur Pendragon by any chance?" she queried, her expression alight with curiosity.

"Yeah," he replied, quite frankly shocked at her guessing this.

Freya smirked knowingly, "Don't worry I'm not psychic or anything," she assured him, "But my flatmate Daegal came bundling into the flat the other day making wild claims that he'd just shared the same lift as the Pendragon siblings. We didn't believe him at first but he was dead certain!"

Merlin grinned at her as the lights in the room dimmed slightly and the man standing on the front stage began to talk.

"Right hello – is this thing on? – Yes, yes, good, well welcome all to your first year studying English Literature at AUA..."

It turned out as Merlin sat through the morning's lecture, that this man who quite frankly was the definition of a technophobe, was in fact the Professor Gaius to whom his mother was referring.

It could certainly be said that he was somewhat eccentric in his interpretations of the various texts they would be covering in the upcoming months, however Merlin thought without a doubt that he certainly knew a vast amount and not just about literature.

Hell, he seemed to be extraordinarily proficient also in history, herbology and pharmacy.

It was extremely impressive.

He and Freya spent the majority of the morning soaking in Gaius' every word, although the same could not be said for most of the other students in the lecture hall.

When he finally concluded his morning introduction to the course, both the two of them and also a few students littered amongst the front rows were the leading students in applause.

"Wow he's amazing!" gawped Freya as they packed up their things and other students filed out past them noisily.

"Definitely!" agreed Merlin, "I've got a good feeling about this course to say the least!"

As they descended the stairs together as the last two students in the theatre, Merlin watched as Professor Gaius began climbing up a rather rickety step ladder, so as to pull down the protective blind for the projection screen.

"Right so I'm gonna go meet up with my flatmates to catch a crappy movie," sighed Freya, "What are you up to now?"

"I'm meeting one of my flatmates for a coffee," smiled Merlin, "Sort of a thank you thing for helping out when he was slightly worse for wear the other night..."

Freya laughed at this and handed Merlin a piece of paper with her number on it, "Don't worry I'm not coming onto you or anything," she winked, I just thought it might be useful for meeting up sometimes or getting some work done!"

Merlin took it with thanks and shoved it into his pocket, with the assurance that he would text her later so she could store his number.

He patted his pocket for his phone and realised with annoyance that he must have left it back on the side arm of his chair. Freya giggled at this and bade him farewell, before rushing off out of the door so that she wouldn't be late for her film.

As Merlin returned up the stairs and located his missing phone, he heard a cry come the front of the theatre.

He turned just in time to see Professor Gaius wobble on the stepladder and tumble alarmingly towards the floor.

Without hesitating to think, he reached out instinctively with his magic, slowing time down around him.

Looking around frantically for something soft to cushion his fall, Merlin noticed several piles of what could only be freshly laundered curtains, which the cleaning staff had yet to hang back up either side of the screen.

He quickly forced the curtain piles to beneath the professor's line of fall using magic and with a blink, resumed time to its normal rate.

"Ooofff!" exclaimed Gaius as he landed with a soft thud, "But how?"

He cast around frantically until he spotted Merlin standing halfway up the stairs.

"What did you do?" he shouted at Merlin angrily.

Merlin paled drastically, "I err don't know what you're –"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about boy!" cried Gaius as he hoisted himself back into standing and checked that they weren't being overheard, "You used magic; who are you and more importantly who taught you?!"

"I.. I'm Merlin, sir, Merlin Emrys and I wasn't taught, I mean - to use magic."

He wrought his hands as he spoke, his body breaking out in a cold sweat. He was _so so_ dead!

"What do you mean you weren't taught?" scoffed Gaius disbelievingly, "Talk sense boy!"

"I was born with it!" Merlin practically wailed, "I can't help it and I haven't been taught any spells; things just... happen when I want them to!"

This seemed to silence the older man for a few moments.

"Emrys you say?" he asked, cocking a wizened eyebrow as he did so, "Not Hunith's boy?"

"Yes!" breathed Merlin with relief. Perhaps there was a chance he wasn't screwed after all.

"Well for goodness sake you need to be more careful!" he ordered, slapping Merlin around the top of the head with the back of his hand, "You could have been seen by anyone and then not even I could have helped you!"

"I'm sorry sir I didn't think," Merlin mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets guiltily.

"Well it's done now..." huffed the older man, returning to stack his many books, before pausing and looking up at him with a slight smile, "And thank you."

Merlin grinned back at him, before his expression became concerned once more, "You won't tell anyone will you?"

"Heavens no!" assured Gaius sternly, "But I stand by what I said earlier in that you need to be more careful... which is where I believe _I_ may be of some assistance..."

Merlin gaped at him several times, unable to form any words. Did he just say what he thought he said?

"Yes I can assure you that you did hear me correctly," he chuckled, as he began to shuffle over towards the door. "Wait behind after the lecture tomorrow; I have something you might find extremely interesting..."

Then he was gone, leaving Merlin standing transfixed to the spot in the middle of an empty lecture theatre.

It took him several minutes before he could gather enough mental strength to leave the room and venture outside.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and when he checked it, he realised it was from Mordred.

From: Mordred 1.03pm

_Hey Merlin, u around for that coffee? I'll wait by the cafe just outside the main entrance to campus unless you say otherwise_

Merlin smiled to himself softly as he quickly typed a reply.

From Merlin 1.05pm

_Yeah I've just finished lectures. Will meet you there in a sec._

He shoved his phone back into his jean pocket and briskly walked to the cafe, his body definitely needing the caffeine after the shock he'd just had.

When he arrived, he met Mordred outside sitting on the wall, with two polystyrene cups already in hand.

"Hey," he smiled, handing one of the cups over to Merlin, "You okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost or something!"

Merlin smiled weakly as he sipped the drink eagerly, "Yeah I'm fine, it's just been a long morning!"

Mordred nodded understandingly, before jumping off the wall with enthusiasm, "I thought we might have a walk around with our coffee? Seeing as it's such a nice day and we've just spent the entire morning sitting down!"

Merlin chuckled and nodded, "Yeah that's fine with me, I think the fresh air will do me good!"

They walked slowly along the busy streets chatting to each other easily as though there were contained within their own bubble, cut off from the rest of the world.

They discussed how their mornings had been, what their lecturers were like and whether they had met anybody else nice so far.

"I sat next to this girl called Freya," explained Merlin thoughtfully, "She's probably even more into the subject than I was and that's saying something! She ended up giving me her number at the end of the lecture which was cool of her."

Mordred cast a sharp sideways glance in his direction, "You don't think she was hitting on you do you?" he asked, his tone cautious.

"I doubt it!" laughed Merlin, shaking his head, "And even if she was, she _really_ isn't my type!"

"Good," answered Mordred quickly, staring down at his coffee, looking almost relieved.

Merlin was just about to question this further, when with a brute impact; he was forced backwards into the wall to his side, hitting his head with a smack.

His coffee slipped out of his hand and he blearily made out a bulky figure leaning over him.

"That's for showing me up in the club the other night," sneered Valliant menacingly as he loomed overhead.

"Hey back off!" roared Mordred as he attempted to force Valliant away, in a similar fashion to before.

"Well if it isn't my little punching bag!" guffawed Valliant as he suddenly snapped one of his tree trunk like arms round and pinned Mordred up against the wall by his neck, "What's the matter? Don't like me touching your boyfriend?"

"Hey!" boomed another familiar voice from down the street, "Valliant what the hell not again!?"

As Merlin's vision warped and swayed, he could just about make out a head full of gleaming blonde hair charging towards them.

Arthur lunged at Valliant forcefully, pushing him away from Mordred and tumbling awkwardly to the floor. Further quick footsteps soon followed and Percy came sprinting into view, to assist Arthur in drawing Valliant backwards.

"Mordred!" cried Arthur, sporting a bloody nose where Valliant had just punched him, "You need to get Merlin outta here; we've got this!"

Mordred nodded frantically and hoisting an arm around Merlin, helped him down the street, away from the ever growing commotion.

"I've got major déjà vu here," muttered Mordred as they walked, before he noticed that Merlin was fast losing consciousness.

"No Merlin, c'mon you can't sleep now!" he shouted, resting him down against a lamppost.

Merlin was surrounded by darkness. Was he dead?

No... he can't be dead... he can hear Mordred's voice...

Then from out of the darkness came that blue light which advanced rapidly and seemed to engulf his consciousness once more.

Merlin felt it probing and shunting his mind, as though trying to draw it out towards the sound of Mordred speaking.

It hurt.

Fuck. It really really hurt.

_Merlin you need to wake up!_

He snapped open his eyes as he heard the foreign voice echo through his mind

With a strength he didn't know he possessed, he propelled his consciousness outwards against the intruding presence, forcing it to retreat with parrying blows. _GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_

Reality snapped back into place and Merlin found himself slumped on the floor next to a lamppost, whilst Mordred lay next to him, clutching his head in agony.

"Wha- What happened?" Merlin choked, his breathing fast and ragged and his eyes still glinting with remnants of gold.

Mordred scrambled to his feet, his eyes wide with terror and his hands balled into fists.

"It's been you!" he gaped, staring at Merlin with disbelief, "You're the one who's been attacking me in my sleep!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" slurred Merlin, holding his throbbing head.

_You're like me! _He heard Mordred say, although it was apparent that he was not speaking verbally.

_You've got fucking magic!_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – Everybody has demons**

Merlin froze; his mind racing frantically in an attempt to rationalise what had just happened.

Did he say he had magic?

Mordred had magic?

But that wasn't – isn't possible!

... ... ...

But now that he thought back on it, it did make a lot of sense. The first time he felt that other presence when he moved in was just outside of Mordred's door... and he could have sworn he'd heard the other boy's voice in his head in the lobby to Camelot Halls after he was attacked in the Rising Sun.

He could easily have slapped himself there and then. How could he not have seen it? He'd even heard the disturbance coming from Mordred's room the other night after he'd fought back with his mind – and after seeing how painful it was for him just moments ago it wasn't surprising it sounded as though he'd fallen out of bed!

The two boys just stared at each other, both with eyes wide and mouths slightly agape in shock.

"I... err..." stuttered Merlin, completely at a loss at what to say next.

"Not here," blurted out Mordred sharply, "Too many people!"

Merlin glanced around himself quickly and noted that several passers-by had indeed stopped and were staring at the two of them sprawled over the pavement together.

"We're going back to the flat, now!" Mordred ordered, not taking his pale eyes off of Merlin's face.

He stood up briskly and hesitated in waiting for Merlin to follow suit.

Merlin forced himself shakily into standing, his mind now clear and alert after being breached, but his head was throbbing all the same from where it had hit the wall.

It also didn't go un-noticed that Mordred hadn't helped him up.

They walked briskly back to the flat, not uttering a word in conversation, although Merlin could still feel Mordred glancing at him periodically.

He'd promised his mum that he wouldn't tell his secret to anyone... and here he was having had two people find out within the same hour!

He felt sick and numb and his palms were slick with a cold sweat.

He was scared.

Scared of Mordred.

He tried to rationalise this to that he'd never met another person with magic before, but deep down he knew this wasn't the true origin of his fear. He was afraid that Mordred would reject him, as silly as it sounded, but he'd really been starting to feel that perhaps... perhaps Mordred was starting to show an interest in him too.

Peeking to his left at the tensed man striding beside him with clenched fists, he couldn't help but feel slightly stricken that for some reason this most recent revelation may have ruined whatever relationship they were starting to build.

They eventually slipped through the front door to a silent and empty flat ; everyone else must have still been out after the morning's lectures and of course Arthur was still probably preoccupied with subduing Valliant.

He went to unlock his own door, before Mordred grabbed him by the arm and pulled him harshly into his own room.

The next thing he knew, he was pinned up against the wall, with Mordred's hands clasped firmly against his shoulders.

"Mordred what -?"

"Are you working for Uther?!" he demanded, his expression set and eyes blaring fiercely.

Merlin blinked several times in shock and opened and closed his mouth before spluttering "Huh? Wha – No! Why the hell would I work for Uther? He hates magic!"

He managed to get some leverage with his arms and pushed Mordred back against the wardrobe opposite.

They both stood tensed, eyeing each other wearily.

"My dad told me when I was little that some magic users turned traitors towards others of their kind to avoid being imprisoned or tortured," retorted Mordred almost stubbornly, "Are you telling me it's just a coincidence that I'm sharing a flat with another magic user, out of the tens of thousands of students at this god forsaken place and that I've been mentally attacked in my sleep numerous times over the past week?!"

"I'm not a spy or a traitor or... or a sorcerer!" hissed Merlin, trying to keep his voice down in-case they weren't as alone in the flat as previously thought.

Mordred chuckled to himself and ran his hands down his face, before projecting his voice once again loudly into Merlin's head.

_I'm not stupid Merlin_

He flinched unintentionally at the uncomfortable sensation, causing Mordred to smirk; obviously satisfied that he'd made his point.

"But I'm not a spy –I swear!" he stated almost pitifully, "And I wasn't attacking you... I was defending myself; I kept feeling my mind being invaded so I just fought back!"

Mordred stared at him with an even gaze, before he gave a small nod and after some further probing with his thoughts, no doubt to see if he was telling the truth, withdrew his presence, "Okay... I believe you..."

Merlin's hands were shaking as the adrenaline hit from being attacked by Valliant and confronted by Mordred began to wear off. He just wanted to crawl back into his bed and curl into a ball.

Mordred stepped forwards again cautiously and stilled Merlin's hands with his own, grimacing slightly as he noticed the other boy's barely suppressed flinch at the contact.

"You're scared of me?" he asked quietly, those pale grey eyes once again boring into his own.

"A bit," breathed Merlin, acutely aware at how close they were now any hostility between them had faded. There were some flecks of blue in Mordred's eyes, he noted to himself, although why he'd noticed this now was beyond him. "It's just that... I've never met anyone else with magic before."

Mordred frowned at this and moved his head backwards a bit as though trying to ascertain whether Merlin was having him on or not.

"Never? ... But then how did you learn to control it?"

Merlin shrugged tiredly and let out a small sigh, "I dunno, I was just born with it; I think of things and they happen – sort of like a tv remote."

He got no reply from the other boy, who was still frowning to himself, obviously confused as to how that was possible.

"How – how about you?" he asked, the curiosity burning within him, "Who taught you to control it?"

"My dad..." responded Mordred; breaking eye contact suddenly and releasing them both from the spell of the other's gaze.

"Did he have magic too?" queried Merlin as the other boy walked slowly towards his bed and sat himself down heavily on it.

"Yeah he did," he replied, smiling softly to himself.

"What happened to him?" asked Merlin gently, sitting himself down beside him, and watching their reflections in the wall mirror opposite.

There was silence as Mordred stared at his feet pointedly in an attempt to avoid the question, his expression vulnerable.

"Mordred, what happened to him?" Merlin pressed again, determined to get an answer.

"They... came in the night when we were sleeping," he started, his voice catching slightly in his throat, "the soldiers; I remember waking up in bed to the sound of gunshots and screaming..."

Merlin froze, hardly daring to breathe in fear of putting Mordred off telling his story.

"One of them came into my room and pulled me over their shoulder and carried me out of the house. I remember seeing my mum's legs in the doorway to the living room," he sighed and covered his face with his hands," The official report was that my dad had killed my mum and that the soldiers had come to arrest him for his crime," he finished flatly, "Then a few weeks later I got the news that he'd apparently been killed himself by one of the other 'dangerous' magical inmates at the holding centre."

Merlin gaped and stared at Mordred in shock, he couldn't have imagined anything like that happening in his wildest dreams.

"And... did they punish the inmate who killed him?" he asked, at a loss for what else to say.

To Merlin's surprise, Mordred burst into laughter at his question and settled an amused gaze upon him, "There was no inmate Merlin!" he retorted, his tone heavy with sarcasm, "Why would they kill each other like that? No... He was killed on Uther Pendragon's orders I'll bet you anything."

Merlin clambered up to his feet and paced around the room, whilst Mordred watched from the bed.

"But, he can't just _kill_ people like that!" he tried to reason defiantly as he walked.

"He can do anything he likes!" Mordred all but shouted back at him, "This isn't a game to him Merlin, it's a war!"

Merlin stopped at this outburst and glared at the other boy suddenly as a thought hit him.

"You're sharing a flat with the only two children of the man you believe killed your parents... And you're okay with that?"

"What do you think?!" retorted Mordred hotly, also jumping up to his feet, "Up until today I've thought Arthur was exactly like his father; egotistical, arrogant and cowardly, especially after the other night! ... You have no idea how much I've wanted to get my revenge!"

Merlin paled at this remark, "And Morgana?"

Mordred paused and a wave of confliction passed behind his eyes, "Morgana... I'm not sure, she's different somehow; I know I should have disliked her as much as Arthur but I just... can't."

"Wait," barked Merlin, holding up a hand and pointing at Mordred accusingly, "You said up until today; you've changed your mind about Arthur?"

"I'm not sure yet," quipped Mordred, folding his arms in frustration, "But I'd like to think I maybe got him wrong and that maybe Morgana was right about him not being all bad... I don't _want_ to hate him," he finished lamely.

They stood at opposite ends of the room quietly thinking to themselves and contemplating their probable mutual shift in attitude towards Arthur after his actions today.

"How do you project your mind?" asked Merlin, deliberately attempting to divert to an easier subject, "I've only managed it once and I was drunk at the time... "

Mordred chuckled and looked at him with surprise, obviously taken aback at the change in tone from their previous topic of conversation.

"I've always found it easy – could almost do it in my sleep, which in fact from what you're saying I actually do..." he paused thoughtfully, "You want me to teach you?"

Merlin nodded somewhat eagerly, interest flaring within him as his previous fear subdued and faded.

Mordred approached slowly to stand directly in front of him; close enough to touch.

Wiping this last thought from his mind, he attempted to pay full attention to Mordred's instruction.

"Right okay, you need to close your eyes," he instructed calmly and quietly, whilst Merlin followed his lead, "Then you need to try to focus on your own mind and your thoughts, and imagine pushing against the walls in your head until you feel my presence."

Merlin furrowed his brow, eyes clenched shut, as he attempted to recreate the sensation he had experienced numerous times before when Mordred's mind had breached his consciousness. He imagined pushing past his mental wall, but despite his best efforts it remained just a figment of his imagination and his mind remained his own.

He opened his eyes with a sound of impatience and frustration to see Mordred peeking at him and suppressing a look of amusement.

"You need to relax more Merlin, you looked like you were trying to pass a kidney stone or something," he smirked.

Merlin stuck his tongue out at him somewhat childishly, before once again shutting his eyes and trying to calm his mind.

He felt an immediate difference this time, in that as he imagined pushing past the defences of his mind, he was confronted with that vast loneliness.

He gasped at the sensation and tried not to panic like before and instead focussed his efforts on searching for Mordred's mind.

Sure enough, after a few seconds of searching, that blue light which he had now come to associate with Mordred came into view to his mind's eye.

As he drew nearer, he heard Mordred shift beside him, "Your mind's sort of a green colour," he explained softly, "I can't explain it really."

Merlin didn't reply – he didn't feel that he needed to.

Their minds brushed past each other, causing them both to shiver slightly; the experience totally different now that both were consenting to the interaction – almost like two wild animals sniffing each other curiously.

Merlin could feel a calmness emitting from the other boy's mind and yet... underneath he sensed a sea of turmoil and rage, no doubt the source of his earlier outbursts of bitterness and frustration.

The loud bang of the front door being shoved open forcefully jumped them both back to their senses and they sprang away from each other as though electrocuted.

Merlin hadn't realised they'd actually moved closer to each other whilst they were both reaching out with their minds. The physical reality was that they were actually close enough to bump noses.

"Merlin, Mordred?" called Arthur as he charged down the hallway and into the kitchen.

"Arthur what did Uther say?" Lance panted as he followed his friend, having obviously been running for some time.

"You took the words exactly out of our mouths" interjected Morgana as the sound of her and Gwen's lighter footsteps came into earshot, "Ouch Gwen I think I've got blisters... and my poor shoes..."

Merlin wet his dry mouth and signalled to the door, "I, err, think maybe we should –"

"Yeah," agreed Mordred as he too seemed to be struggling to compose himself.

They both darted out of the room quickly and entered the kitchen.

They were immediately faced with Gwen helping Arthur to stench the flow of blood from his nose by the sink and the other two perched in a concerned manner on the arms of the sofas.

"There you are!" said Arthur thickly, due to the tissue paper now stuff up his nose to soak up the blood, "Are you okay Merlin?"

Merlin nodded meekly as Morgana rushed from the sofa to check him over, "Yeah I'm a little shaken but no harm done I think."

"Hmmm... bit of a bump to the head, but apart from that I totally agree," Morgana concluded, once she was happy with her findings.

"I've spoken to my father," Arthur began whilst Merlin felt Mordred tense slightly beside him, "And he's informed me that he'll deal with Valliant and his father personally; I'm not sure what he's planning exactly but he seemed like he had something up his sleeve."

"I expect having his only son being beaten black and blue had something to do with his decision to act, "smirked Lance from his position across the room.

"I was not beaten up," sniffed Arthur as indignantly as he could with his nose blocked up," I merely obtained some battle wounds that's all."

"I know the feeling," interjected Mordred bluntly, causing the atmosphere in the room to once more turn frosty.

Arthur glanced at him almost sheepishly for a moment, before he pulled the bloodied tissue from his nose with one hand, threw it in the bin and moved so that he stood face to face with Mordred.

He took a deep breath, "Look Mordred... I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry that I was too much of a coward to step in the other day. You were right; I cared more about my appearance in front of my friends than I did about doing the right thing. I'm ashamed of myself and I'd really like it if maybe we could start over?"

He held out his hand to Mordred and everyone in the room seemed to wait with baited breath for the other boy's reaction.

Mordred's face was conflicted as he stared at Arthur's outstretched hand, but after a quick glance in Merlin's direction to see him nod slightly, he accepted the handshake and smiled softly.

"I think that's for the best," he agreed, although his eyes were still careful.

Arthur grinned in response before he once more became composed as he turned to Merlin.

"And Merlin... I also owe you an apology for well... you know being a – "

"Prat?" offered Merlin lightly, "An egotistical halfwit perhaps?"

"Not exactly the words I was looking for," frowned Arthur, "But regardless I –"

"It's okay," breezed Merlin easily, "I've had a lot worse and I think maybe we should try again... although I think you'll always be a tosser deep down," he finished with a wink.

Arthur rolled his eyes and grinned before making his way back to the sink so as to shove some more paper up his nose, which was starting to drip blood again.

Gwen patted his arm approvingly as he did so, causing him to look immensely pleased with himself.

Morgana was apparently close to tears by this point to Merlin's greatest amusement.

"Right!" she sniffed, as the emotion of the flat reunion got to her, "I think this calls for pizza tonight – Arthur's treat!"

They all let out a half hearted cheer as Arthur groaned in annoyance.

* * *

They spent the evening together for the first time since that night in the Rising Sun.

Leon was called in and asked ever so politely if he'd go and collect the pizzas from the delivery boy downstairs and they spent the following few hours stuffing their faces with as much food as they could lay their hands on, whilst pretending that they'd all just met again.

Merlin could tell Arthur was making a valued effort to be as polite and friendly as possible during the course of the evening, which to be honest was extremely appreciated.

By the time they were all rising to retire to their rooms for the night, Merlin's head was feeling sore and heavy.

He needed a good sleep after the day he'd had, especially if he was meeting with Gaius again tomorrow.

He exchanged a small smile with Mordred as they both opened their respective bedroom doors and stepped inside. He allowed himself a moment of elation as he leant against the door frame, in that he had found not only someone like himself with magic, but that Mordred didn't reject him as he had previously feared. He was slightly concerned about the darker side to his personality; the side which had for a moment made all the hairs on his arms stand on end...

But then everybody has demons he decided offhandedly.

He was about to head into his bathroom to brush his teeth, when a knock at his door pulled him back.

He was surprised to see Arthur standing on the other side when he opened it, looking slightly awquard and uncomfortable.

"Err... hi?" he asked curiously.

Arthur ran a hand up his opposite arm, as he appeared to be searching for the right words.

"I just wanted to say... about before, that I don't have a problem with you being, you know – gay,"

"Oh right okay... thanks?" replied Merlin the confusion evident in his voice.

"I was being stupid," admitted Arthur, "And I dunno, when you stood up against me it just sorta hit a nerve I guess... I'm not usually used to people other than Morgana being brave enough to confront me."

Merlin had to laugh at this, "Well don't worry I'll certainly do my best to put you in your place – when you're being a prat of course."

Arthur smirked in response before a thoughtful expression crossed his face.

"There's something about you Merlin... I can't quite put my finger on it..."

Then with that, he gave a prompt nod and retreated down the hall to his own room.

As Merlin stood in his bathroom brushing his teeth and humming to himself quietly, he felt Mordred's mind brush lightly against his own.

_I don't think I've heard a Pendragon apologise quite so much before in my life_

Merlin spat out his toothpaste and smiled to himself

_You were listening?_

There was a short pause.

_Maybe. That's not the point... Do you think he's being genuine?_

He considered this for a moment before replying.

_Actually I do..._

He could practically see Mordred frowning in contemplation, whether this was because of their mental connection or his overactive imagination he was unsure, but it was probably accurate regardless.

_Goodnight Merlin_, came his eventual response

_Goodnight Mordred._


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys – I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update over these past few weeks and also for not mentioning this in the last chapter – I completely forgot! I've been plagued with exams and coursework which I of course had to prioritise over my writing. Many thanks to those of you who have pm'ed me as well; it's always nice to know that you're eager for more!

I have actually written more than is in this chapter and was originally going to publish it all together. However I decided in the end that I'd split them into 2 so people can at least read this section whilst I finish writing the other part. Hopefully I'll get chapter 14 to you in the next couple of days and with it some possible further developments...

* * *

**Chapter 13 – Heart of Steel.**

After the first few weeks of studying at the AUA, it became obviously apparent to Merlin that any preconceptions he had held regarding the light workloads of fresher students, were sorely misplaced.

Professor Gaius seemed to almost delight in springing literature reviews on his classes – much to the chagrin of many. For students such as Freya and Merlin however, who had actually taken the time over the summer period to work through the year's reading list, these assignments weren't nearly as demanding.

Still, he had thought to himself, at least everyone else in the flat seemed to be suffering with a similar influx of work. It also proved to be at least one topic of conversation that everyone had in common; they had spent many an evening moaning over the work they each had to do before the night was out.

Regardless of how busy he was finding himself, Merlin was finally starting to feel at home on the campus. The relationships within flat 101 had vastly improved since Arthur had apologised and he was still making a continued effort to make up for his earlier behaviour. Merlin could almost condone the possibility that they may become good friends at some point. _Almost._

But for now he was content with regarding him as a pompus dollophead – although in the most affectionate way possible.

Even Mordred had become less hostile and suspicious and actually had started to laugh quite openly at Arthur's jokes.

He would have asked Mordred personally of course regarding his recent opinions of the Pendragon heir, but he'd felt it appropriate to distance himself slightly from the other boy. It was quite selfish of him, he'd acknowledged one evening when he'd hurriedly dashed into his room to avoid being left alone with him, but he didn't think his heart would be able to take it. He could practically hear it cracking just being in the same room with him, even as part of a group.

He'd kicked himself for thinking that Mordred could ever be interested in him. He should have stuck with his initial thought that he was obviously straight. It would have saved him from the grinding feeling he was now constantly experiencing in his chest. He'd never met anyone like him and he'd certainly never found himself so attracted to someone so quickly. He'd supposed it was due to the magical bond they shared – almost like they were brothers.

_Brothers..._ It felt like that's all they ever could be now.

How depressing.

* * *

_**2 weeks previously...**_

"They dragged me to watch the new Paranormal Activity..." groaned Freya, as she lay her head on the lecture desk in front of her, "It creeped the hell of out me so I got hardly any sleep last night!"

"Ah yeah the ending's meant to be pretty jumpy isn't it?" grinned Merlin as he pulled his notepad out of his bag.

"Gilli jumped so bad he spilt what was left of his coke all over his crotch!" she snorted as she sat up and rubbed her tired eyes in an attempt to rouse herself, "I should be more sympathetic I know, but it was his rotten idea to go see the film in the first place!"

Merlin found this highly amusing and a small part of him wondered how different his uni experience might have been so far had he been a member of their flat instead. Well for one it was highly unlikely that he would have been beaten up by any homophobic thugs; or be spending most of his time tip-toeing around the well-meaning but still incredibly dangerous children of Uther Pendragon.

On the other hand – he was really starting to click with everyone in the flat and Gwen was fast turning into the sister he had never had. No... he wouldn't have changed his flatmates for the world... and that was saying something!

Besides, if things had been different then he may never have met Mordred.

Apart from a hurried 'Morning' whilst shovelling down some cereal at breakfast, they hadn't had any contact – verbal or non-verbal since last night. Merlin had barely been able to get any sleep himself, in knowing that just next door lay someone as different as he was. He was ashamed to admit that he was almost feverishly excited about what today would bring. He felt so... connected with the other boy, in a way which no one, not even his mother could understand. He was also still ridiculously attracted to him and he hoped, an aching burning feeling, that maybe, just maybe he had detected some signs that Mordred could be feeling the same way.

Seriously he was starting to worry himself. He'd barely known Mordred for a week and he was already becoming infatuated. A part of him also warned that he should be more wary of the slightly dark aspects to Mordred's personality, however to be honest this only served to add to his appeal.

Everybody has a past and nobody is perfect right?

"But anyway enough about last night," she chirped, doing her best to sit upright in a semi-alert manner, "The real question is what are you doing tonight?"

Merlin glanced up at her from the book he was rifling through to find his page from the last lecture, "Tonight? What do you mean?"

"Well I just thought seeing as we don't have lectures tomorrow that it might be nice to head down to the pub or something?" she shrugged with a small smile.

"Deagal suggested it yesterday when I told them about the people I spoke to in my lecture and I thought it might be nice for you to meet them all. – They're lovely I promise!"

"Urrr..." Merlin delayed, pulling a somewhat reluctant expression.

He'd been intending to keep the evening free just in case the meeting with Gaius after the lecture lasted longer than expected. Also he'd kind of been hoping for some sort private time with Mordred in continuation to yesterday.

"Oh go on! Pleeease?" she pouted, pretending to sniff sadly.

Merlin sighed and agreed that he'd think about it and text her by at least 6 to confirm if he would be joining them.

"Well that's a start I guess!" she winked as she pulled out her pink flowery notepad from her bag.

At the front of the class, Professor Gaius, who had spent the last 15 minutes angrily questioning why the overhead projector wasn't turning on, was finally ready to begin the lesson, after a sympathetic student in the front row had pointed out it wasn't switched on at the plug.

"Right then if I may have your attention – quiet back there! ..."

Merlin was sure that had it been any other day, he would have found the day's lectures to be as equally interesting as the first, however he was more interested in what Gaius would have to say to him once everybody else had left.

As the clock face finally turned to 4 o' clock, there was an audible sigh of relief from the class as the previously dimmed lights grew bright and the video which had been playing up on the screen was turned off. They all sat up straighter with bleary eyes and began slowly moving to pack up their things.

"Just before you all go I shall take this opportunity to ask you all to complete a 1000 word comparison for the end of the week based on the themes expressed in 'The Road', to potential real life future scenarios for humanity"

There was a unison of disgruntled grumbling within the lecture theatre.

Professor Gaius sighed to himself and retreated back behind his desk, "You come to university and act surprised when you're asked to do some work! Honestly the youth of today!"

The loud girls to Freya's right were complaining sulkily to one other as they collected their things, regarding how long it would take them to read the novel and how this would surely impose on their party plans over the next few days.

"Well if they'd bothered to work through the reading list beforehand then they wouldn't have this terrible problem now would they?" muttered Freya to herself as they both rose from their seats.

Merlin smirked at her irritation and suggested that maybe she should have a quick nap when she got back to her flat before going out to the pub.

"Hhmm I think you're right," she yawned, "It certainly didn't help Gaius saw fit to turn out all the lights... I think I dosed through most of that hour!"

"Tut tut," he teased as they slowly descended the stairs together, "And there I was thinking you were so enthusiastic about this course..."

"Oh shut up!" retorted Freya as she elbowed him playfully in the ribs, "I'll have you know drowsiness is a biological response to decreased sensory stimulus and so therefore not my fault; besides I saw you nodding off a couple of times as well!"

Merlin laughed at this as he threw a quick glance in the direction of the professor. It was fortunate he thought, that after being stuck in the same lecture halls for the whole day, there was nobody else hanging back to ask any questions in favour of escaping to the cool fresh air outside. This meant it should be easy for him to be able to talk with the older man alone.

"I'm just going to ask Gaius a question about the video," he explained as he started to hold back slightly.

"Well seeing as I wouldn't have a clue what you two were talking about and at risk of it being discovered that I was sleeping through most of it, I think I'll head off home for that nap," she said lightly giving him a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, causing him to halt in turning away from her retreating form, "Remember to text me before 6 okay? And it better be to tell me that you're coming!"

Merlin rolled his eyes and nodded to indicate that her playful threat was well understood.

He stood nervously waiting for the last of the stragglers to leave the room, before he tentatively approached Gaius at his desk.

"Ah yes good you remembered," he exclaimed looking over the top of his glasses, "And no need to look so worried, I'm not going to spring a surprise test on you or anything!"

Merlin chuckled slightly at this before asking, "Then what was it you wanted to see me about sir?"

"I have something for you," replied the old professor, rummaging around within one of his desk's many drawers, "Aha yes here it is..."

He handed across a brand new copy of the novel they were to write their assignment on for the end of the week.

Merlin froze and stared dumbly at the copy of 'The Road' in his hand. Was this for real? Had he been waiting anxiously all day for _this_?

Gaius watched his face with amusement, his eyebrow arched quizzically as he waited for Merlin's response. When he received none, he made a point to cough quietly in order to bring the attention back to him.

"I imagine you are somewhat confused as to why I have given you this book, when the presumptions I gave you yesterday were that this conversation would be somewhat – " he glanced around quickly, "_magic related?"_

Merlin nodded slowly, "Yes that's right..."

"Open it," commanded Gaius, folding his arms within the material of his tarnished old jacket, watching as Merlin followed his instruction; it was just a normal book.

"Now I want you to focus hard on your desire for this book to be more that it is and carefully recite _'__Onhríne achtung bregdan'_."

Merlin frowned to himself slightly before closing his eyes and uttering the words to himself.

Nothing happened.

"Focus boy, focus!" prompted Gaius sharply," You need to mean it!"

Merlin took a deep breath and did his best to concentrate on his thoughts. He compiled all the hopes and wishes he'd been feeling over the past 24 hours in anticipation of this meeting and tried again.

"_Onhríne achtung bregdan"_

This time he felt his magic shift slightly within him and he fought the sudden urge to shudder. Opening his eyes he looked down at the book once more to find to his amazement that the formerly crisp new pages had been replaced with a worn parchment type material.

More excitingly were the various faded pictures and what were obviously incantations which now filled the book.

"But how?"

Gaius smirked at him knowingly before he took the book back from Merlin and began flicking through its pages absent-mindedly.

"I couldn't just give you a book such as this without providing some sort of protection now could I?"

"It's a bit... Harry Potter though isn't it?" he questioned, the amusement obvious in his voice.

"Perhaps..." agreed Gaius," But I think in times such as these it would do us well to air on the side of caution don't you?"

He handed the book back to Merlin who received it eagerly. He flicked through the pages taking in its vast expanse of knowledge. He could almost feel an echo of magic radiating from the parchment.

This was absolutely... amazing!

He wondered aloud to Gaius how he was meant to reverse the concealment spell, to which Gaius proclaimed that it was not needed.

"Only the person who activates it with magic can see the pages," he assured matter-of-factly," And even then only until the book is closed."

Merlin gave him an incredulous look as he shut and re-opened the book to find the yellowing pages had indeed reverted back to their white pristine state.

"So when you were looking through it earlier – "

"I could only see the fresh new pages of the novel," finished Gaius with a knowing smile.

After asking his professor repeatedly that he was certain he wanted him to take the book and making sure he could repeat the incantation from memory, he gave his thanks and eagerly made to rush from the room.

"Oh by the way," he asked just before he pushed through the heavy oak doors to the foyer, "How was the concealment put on the book in the first place?"

Gaius paused from his desk tidying and shrugged nonchalantly, "How does the saying go... Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies?"

Merlin grinned at his professor and nodded once more before turning to leave.

"Oh and Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"Don't tell anyone about the book. Not a soul... not even your mother, otherwise they could all be placed in terrible danger should it be discovered."

* * *

Merlin was buzzing with a barely contained excitement as he walked at a lightening pace back towards Camelot halls. He had been initially intending to share his new found source of knowledge with Mordred, but upon heeding Gaius' warning, he decided that this was a secret that was best kept to himself.

For now anyway.

He'd have to text Freya when he got back as well; there was no chance he was going out tonight, not when he had so much to try out!

His mind had been so preoccupied with what he hoped to be able to learn from the book, that he only realised where he was when the elevator announced '_Tenth Floor'_ in that now familiar cool voice and he made his way up to the front door to the flat.

Stepping into the hallway he could hear laughing coming from the kitchen, but instead of heading in there himself, he opted for going straight into his room to allow himself to get more acquainted with his now extra-curricular studies.

As he fumbled to fit his key into the lock to his door, the kitchen door opened suddenly causing him to jump and drop his keys onto the floor.

He cursed to himself and bent down to pick them up.

On straightening up again however, he came face to face with Mordred who was now opening the door to his own room.

Mordred.

And a girl holding his hand.

A girl with rosy tinted cheeks and fair wavy brown locks.

A girl who had now swapped holding Mordred's hand to instead wrapping hers around his waist affectionately.

"Hi Merlin," Mordred greeted somewhat shyly, "Good day?"

Merlin stared at him blankly for a few seconds before forcing himself to reply, "Yeah you know, same old..."

Mordred nodded his head to his right towards the girl still clinging onto him, "This is Kara by the way; we go way back."

Merlin shook hands with her, doing his best not to show any signs of distress.

"Nice to meet you," he smiled, albeit whilst biting his tongue almost painfully.

_You bitch._

Of course he didn't say the latter.

"Anyway I've got lots to do so I'll just be going- "he gulped and pointed into his room as words failed him.

He felt as though his heart had been turned into steel and was currently plummeting down into his stomach and his legs suddenly felt weak and useless.

He practically fell into his room and shut the door quickly behind him. He slid down the cool wood of the door until he hit the ground with a miserable thump. He'd seen the slightly concerned look in Mordred's grey eyes just before he left the hallway and the image had now burnt itself into his mind.

Mordred had said last week that he didn't have a girlfriend. But then of course that didn't necessarily mean that he never would.

Merlin tried to reason with himself angrily that it really didn't bother him who the other boy dated, seeing as he barely knew him.

But despite his greatest efforts, all he could manage was: _It should have been me_

Suddenly he didn't feel much like pouring over his new book anymore that evening.

Instead he pulled himself up to his feet and moped over towards his bed, which he then flung himself onto despairingly.

He considered checking whether Morgana was in so he could talk about what had just happened, however he didn't think he could bear to feel her pity right now.

He heard Kara giggle from next door.

_Oh no_

No way was he going to sit here and listen to that all night.

He shoved his hand into his faded blue jean pocket and pulled out his mobile, then having fumbled his way through the address book, began angrily typing out a text message.

_To: Freya 4.30pm_

_Hey Freya, I'm definitely up for tonight. Do you mind if I come up a bit earlier, say 5ish? Sorry if I wake you up but no one else is in my flat and I'm sooo bored _

As far as he was concerned, boredom was always the perfect excuse for arriving somewhere earlier than expected.

He heaved himself up and undressed quickly, before jumping into the shower.

When he emerged 10 minutes later draped in a towel, with dripping hair and flushed pink skin, he noted two text messages registering on his phone screen.

_From: Freya 4.35pm_

_Yay! Of course you can __ I didn't have a nap in the end, Gilli made me a cup of his extra strength coffee. So I'm now literally bouncing of the ceiling. Knock on flat 54. See you in a bit!_

He closed his eyes in relief. Thank goodness for that. As if to emphasise his point he heard music start to play next door, no doubt from Mordred's laptop and Kara began singing along.

Closing the first message, he checked to see who had sent the second.

_From: Mordred 4.33pm_

Merlin hovered his finger over the open button but decided against it. He shut his screen down and placed the phone onto the bed-side table.

He proceeded to dress himself and quickly style his hair, which he had to say after Gwen had cut it had become considerably easier.

He shoved his phone, wallet and keys into his pocket before leaving the room in a hurry.

In the hallway just as he was opening the front door he heard another door open behind him.

"Merlin –"came Mordred's voice.

But Merlin had already stepped outside and shut the door behind him, drowning out the rest of the sentence.

* * *

He acknowledged to himself that he was being incredibly childish as he took the lift down to the 5th floor, but he was hurting, even if it was unjustified and he certainly couldn't help how he felt.

With any luck some alcohol and good conversation could cheer him up and he could at least pretend to be happy for Mordred.


	14. Chapter 14

Hey guys, here's the next chapter as promised. Thanks again for those of you who have reviewed/mailed me; your comments and suggestions are much appreciated and valued!

Enjoy

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Socks for Christmas**

Going out with Freya and her flatmates was definitely the right decision he later reflected.

Having arrived outside flat 54 he knocked sharply on the smooth wooden door and waited as the sound of laughter from within quietened significantly, to be replaced with approaching footsteps.

"Hi there," breathed the girl answering the door, her light brown hair swept casually into her eyes. She was tall and willowy in stature, and had a pleasant calm heart shaped face.

"Hey, I errr... think I'm expected – I'm Merlin" he added, holding out his hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet you Merlin, I'm Sefa," she beamed, shaking his hand enthusiastically, "Freya told us you were coming up a little bit earlier."

She ushered him into the hallway and closed the door behind him. On looking around it appeared their flat was set out in a similar fashion to his, except with only five bedroom doors rather than 6.

When he mentioned this to Sefa she laughed and agreed that theirs was a slightly smaller flat, "But one less bedroom means a slightly larger kitchen..."

She was not exaggerating.

"Wow!" he gaped as he followed her into the communal room, which was about a third of the size larger than their own kitchen, allowing for another sofa to be easily slotted into place.

The modern design was of course the same, but the far corner of the lounge area also boasted 2 ceiling high windows which bathed the room in the late afternoon sunlight.

"Ah Merlin right on time," waved Freya from where she was helping to build a castle of cards on the glass coffee table, "I see you've already met Sefa..."

She went on to quickly introduce the rest of her flatmates. There was Gilli of course, who she had mentioned earlier on; a shorter stockier lad with a rounded friendly face, striking green eyes and a mop of dark un-kept hair.

Then there was the dazzling Elena who was the picture of a stereotypical beauty, with golden blond silky hair tussled up into a bun, smooth pristine skin and baby blue eyes. The spell was somewhat broken when she tripped over her own feet upon scrambling up from the sofa to shake Merlin's hand.

"Honestly you have got to be one of the clumsiest people I've ever met!" laughed Freya as she assisted Merlin in helping a beetroot faced Elena to her feet.

Finally he was introduced to Daegal, a skinny lad with immaculately styled reddish brown hair and careful dark brown eyes. He wore slightly worn clothes similar to Merlin, indicating that it was likely he had also come from a slightly poorer background.

"Can I get you a cider Merlin?" asked Gilli in a soft Scottish accent, as he wandered slowly over to the kitchen area, "We're all having one as well mind."

Merlin laughed and made a point of looking at the clock on his phone, "It's barely even the evening and this flat is already cracking open the drinks? I think I should come back more often!"

There was a buzz of laughter around the room, which flowed smoothly into a cheer as Daegal managed to place the final card on top of the tower.

"Oh well done Daegal, I can't believe you guys actually finished it!" exclaimed Elena excitedly, "Now if I can just reach to get my glass..."

"NO!" shouted practically everyone but Merlin, making both him and Elena jump in surprise.

"Here, " smiled Freya wearily as she picked up the glass from next to the card tower and handed it to her. "Just for goodness sake stay away until we at least take a photo of it!"

"Elena pouted and hugged the glass into her chest, "I'm not _that_ clumsy you know!"

This earned her a withering look from the others causing her to pause and almost reconsider her statement,

"Yeah you have a point..."

After Freya had gleefully taken a photo of their masterpiece on her phone and everyone had been handed a fresh cider, they all settled down onto the sofas to enjoy their drinks.

"Oh is that the time?!" cried Sefa, frantically waving her watch around on her wrist, "Quick Freya turn on the laptop; we're gonna miss University Challenge!"

There was a flurry of motion as Freya rushed to find the right website on her battered computer and everyone huddled around the screen so as to get a good view.

"So... is this kind of a flat activity then?" asked Merlin, the amusement obvious in his voice.

"It's the highlight of our day!" bounced Sefa.

"She's not even joking," smiled Daegal slightly from his seat next to Elena by the window.

"Right so the normal rules apply," chirped Gilli as he rubbed his hands eagerly, "Whoever gets the most questions right gets a free drink when we go to the pub!"

He should have known alcohol was the incentive; this was a student flat after all, albeit not in the usual sense.

Although he was initially sceptical regarding the entertainment factor of the game, he soon found himself drawn in by the competitive natures of the others and was promptly shouting with glee as loud as the rest of them when he got his first question right.

He actually did pretty well for a first timer he decided afterwards, having come third out of 6, closely behind Daegal and narrowly beating Freya. What surprised him the most though, was that Elena had stormed into an easy lead and there was no doubt that she had completely wiped the board with the rest of them.

"Can't believe you won again!" grinned Daegal as he nudged her playfully in the ribs.

"Well what I lack in hand-eye coordination I obviously make up for in brains!" she chirped happily, beaming back at him.

"It's painful isn't it?" whispered Freya in his ear as the theme tune to the show and a buzz of conversation filled the room, "They definitely like each other but both of them are too shy to do anything about it!"

Merlin gave a small smirk and a wink to acknowledge he'd heard her, before she dived into the centre of the circle to turn off the laptop.

He physically felt his mood drop again in contrast as to how happy he'd been during the game and his mind drifted back to Mordred and Kara back upstairs in his own flat. He wondered what they were doing right now...

His thoughts were interrupted by a strange and angry wet noise from one of the adjacent sofas.

"Sorry," blushed Gilli, crossing his arms and smiling in his embarrassment, "That was my stomach..."

They all laughed in unison, before it was decided that it was probably about time they headed down to the pub and ordered some food.

As they rose to their feet and filed out into the hallway, they heard the half-expected sound of a card tower being accidentally knocked over from back in the kitchen.

"Don't worry about it Elena!" called Freya in response to the subsequent whimper behind them.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Merlin found himself sprawled over a rather comfortable red leather arm chair listening to the conversation of the group, with a full stomach and a double vodka and coke in his hand.

It was also a testament to the strength of the drinks in the pub that even after consuming probably half his body weight in food he was still experiencing an alcohol induced tingling sensation in his finger tips.

The pub had a sort of cross fusion of modern meets medieval decor, with a stylish and highly polished bar area, complementing the rustic furniture, wooden beams framing the ceiling above and the merrily crackling log fire in the far corner in the room.

"So Merlin," hiccupped Gilli, having loosened his belt and patting his now silent stomach contentedly, "Are your flat mates nice?"

Merlin sat himself upright and placed his drink onto the dark rounded oak table in the centre of the group.

"Yeah they're awesome, we had a bit of a shaky start to begin with but we're all getting on great now."

"How'd mean shaky?" asked Elena, raising her eyebrows quizzically.

Well I'd think that being pushed about by a sadistic homophobic and having a prattish flatmate turn a blind eye to it would be enough to start any group of people off on the wrong foot, he thought dryly to himself with a grim smile.

"Bit of a clash of personalities and some stupid behaviour really," he shrugged.

"You live with Arthur and Morgana Pendragon don't you?" asked Sefa curiously, her eyes alight with interest as she took a sip from her glass of wine, "Daegal swore he shared a lift with them the other day."

Merlin was about to ask her how she knew that, when he saw Freya casually avoiding eye contact and pointedly checking her phone.

He smirked before turning his attention back to Sefa, "Yeah I do; bit of a shock when I moved in I'm telling you..."

Sefa almost squeaked with excitement as she placed her drink down and leant forwards towards Merlin so she could get all of the details.

"So what's he like? Arthur I mean? Is he as hot as in the photos? I bet he is isn't he! Oh and is he - ?"

"A gigantic prat?" interjected Merlin, before pausing for another swig of his drink, "Yeah he is! But he's growing on me I guess."

"He's not _that_ good looking!" moaned Gilli, not even bothering to open his eyes as he dozed, "I don't get what you girls see in him to be honest... Morgana on the other hand..."

"He's gorgeous what's not to like?!" retorted Sefa indignantly, "Casually ruffled blonde hair, a rugged jaw line, toned body and a smile to die for... ".

She sighed dreamily and began fanning herself with a coaster.

"Careful Sefa," warned Freya jokingly, "I don't think the owners would appreciate you leaving a wet patch on their seats!"

Elena snorted with laughter and ended up spraying her WKD down her front, although fortunately for her, Daegal was promptly on hand with some napkins and he wasted no time in helping her to clean up.

"So are the magazines right in saying he's still single?" asked Sefa, unperturbed by Freya's remark.

"I guess so," replied Merlin with a small nod of the head, "I mean he's not technically seeing anyone as far as I'm aware."

He had initially intended on mentioning that Arthur appeared to be still desperately vying for Gwen's attention at present, but rather quickly decided against it. You never know who could be listening in on this conversation and the last thing he wanted, more so for Gwen's sake, was some sleazy reporter publishing an article on it.

"How about Morgana? Is she seeing anyone?" voiced Gilli, trying and failing to sound cool and uninterested.

"Again, not that I'm aware of," answered Merlin casually.

Gilli rubbed his hands together, "So plenty of opportunity then for her to succumb to my charms!"

"Or file in for a restraining order!" piped in Daegal with a pointed grin at Gilli having finally cleared up the most of the WKD residue.

"I'm sure you couldn't believe your luck either could you Merlin?" asked Sefa with a grin, "I think most boys would think all their Christmas' had come at once getting to share a flat with Morgana!"

He sighed inwardly. Oh how sometimes he wished that he could go back in time to tell his 14 year old self that not only would he have to come out to his mum, but also to every new group of friends for practically the rest of his life. It seemed as though there was such a big fanfare made about the first time someone came out, when in fact they'd probably end up coming out many more times afterwards. Still, it was becoming easier each time he did it.

"Actually... I'm not really into girls that way," he stated airily, unable to make eye contact regardless.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Freya clapping her hands merrily.

Merlin cringed, "Is it that obvious?"

"Oh no," reassured Freya with a smile, "I just have an amazing gay-dar, it's a sort of talent of mine!"

He glanced around at the others and was immensely relieved to see that none of them seemed bothered in the slightest at his revelation.

"So is there a special guy in your life at the moment then?" cooed Sefa with interest, looking as eager as when she was asking after Arthur.

Merlin thought about this carefully, his heart throbbing uncomfortably, even in his alcohol-comforted state.

"No, there's no one."

After final orders had been called for the night and everyone had drunk up, they decided to head back to the halls, especially considering Merlin and Freya were the only lucky ones to have the next day off.

They parted ways on the fifth floor when the others bundled out of the lift to head back to their flat and prised a slightly tipsy Freya from the bear hug she was giving Merlin.

"I'll see you on Thursday!" she trilled loudly, causing Sefa to clamp her hand over her mouth so that she didn't disturb the other flats.

Merlin rode the lift up the next five floors alone.

Finally he unlocked the door to the flat and crept inside, taking care so as not to wake anyone up. He wasn't _that_ late in all honesty and most of them were probably still awake anyway.

He half stumbled, half walked to his bedroom door and fumbled with the keys to try and find the lock.

It'd taken him several attempts to open the front door and he wasn't feeling particularly optimistic about managing the next one.

There was movement from the direction of the kitchen which he ignored, however when the approaching shadow stopped to his side, he had no choice but to look up in acknowledgement.

"Good time?" smiled Gwen warmly, whilst wearing a pale blue fluffy dressing gown and clutching a hot mug of tea in her hands.

"Yeah I just went to the pub with some friends" he slurred as he rested his head wearily on the wood of his door.

"Do you need any help getting into your room?" she asked with amusement as he pawed at the handle miserably.

"Nope thanks I've got this..."

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and a pat on the head before heading off to bed.

Merlin sighed to himself and continued trying to get into his room. He just wanted to get in, brush his teeth and go to bed...

"Merlin?"

_Oh shit._

"Hey," he replied, forcing a smile as he turned to see Mordred hovering in his doorway wearing an old t-shirt and loose pair of boxers.

"Are you... okay?"

"M'fine" he sniffed, continuing to fumble with his keys, "S'Kara still here?"

The other boy looked confused, "Umm... no? She left hours ago."

"Oh... that's nice," he forced out through gritted teeth.

He rattled the handle again. Still no joy...

For fucks sake!

WHY. WOULDN'T. THIS. STUPID. DOOR. OPEN!

His vision blurred gold for a moment and he heard the locking mechanism click loudly before his bedroom door swung open.

"Bout time!" he grumbled, stumbling inside and flicking on the light.

He made to shut his door, only to find Mordred blocking him from doing so.

"Are you mad?" he hissed, checking the hallway was clear, "You can't just go around using magic like that, someone could have seen!"

Merlin mumbled to himself as he turned away and crossed the room clumsily, before curling up on his bed. Why couldn't he just be left alone to wallow in peace?

No doubt Mordred realised his attempts to reason with Merlin were in vain, when he promptly dosed off and began snoring softly.

He watched him sleep for a while with a conflicted expression, before turning out the light and shutting the door.

* * *

**_Present day_**

"NO MERIN!" cried Lance frantically as he grabbed his hands and pulled him away from the oven.

"Wha? What did I do wrong?" asked Merlin, racking his brains in confusion.

Lance stared at him incredulously for a moment, clutching his chest, before he strode over to the work top and grabbed the pair of pink oven gloves which had been sitting there plain as day.

"These Merlin, are oven gloves; you wear them when you plan to get things out of a hot oven!"

Merlin smacked his hand to his forehead in realisation, "Oh crap yeah sorry I completely forgot!"

The other man gave an exasperated laugh as he sunk onto one of the sofas, "You weren't lying when you said you couldn't cook were you?"

Merlin smiled apologetically as Gwen who had previously been preoccupied watching videos of cats with Morgana on YouTube, picked up a stray magazine and began fanning Lance so as to cool him down.

"Well I think he's quite talented," smirked Arthur as he looked up from his Ipad, "I don't think I've ever laughed so much watching someone trying to stuff a chicken before!"

"Oh har har," retorted Merlin sarcastically as he successfully managed to remove the tray from the oven – albeit this time wearing the oven gloves.

"In fairness he's better than he was when he got here," reasoned Mordred from his seat at the kitchen table.

As Arthur shrugged in half-hearted agreement, Merlin made brief eye contact with Mordred and smiled softly, before hurriedly turning away, the tips of his ears burning hot.

After the misery of that first night, he'd become much more accomplished at composing himself around Mordred, albeit things definitely weren't the same between them since he found out about Kara. Still, following waking up the next morning with the mother of all hangovers, he made a mental promise to put his childish feelings aside and try make do with just being his friend.

It was better than nothing at least.

Thing's had pretty much returned to normal from that point on, although he had not interacted telepathically with the other boy since the night they found out about each other's magic. He didn't think he could bear having Mordred sense the pangs of jealously he had been bottling up over the past few weeks. There had been a few occasions when he had sensed Mordred reaching out with his mind at night, possibly to try and talk to him, but fortunately having consulted his newly acquired spell book, he'd managed to figure out a way to still his conscious thoughts sufficiently to mimic sleeping and so Mordred simply withdrew rather than attempt to rouse him.

Kara had of course been spotted around the flat occasionally to Merlin's irritation, although he didn't wish to be rude and so he made a continued effort to be polite and friendly whenever he bumped into her.

Now he knew how Arthur must have felt immediately following the Valliant incident, albeit with considerably less heartache.

Morgana had inevitably noticed the exchange of glances between the pair of them and even if she hadn't, the tell tale sign of his reddening ears would easily have given it away. She rose from the sofa on the excuse of re-filling her and Gwen's drinks and made her way over to the sink so that she was standing right next to Merlin.

Arthur of course took this opportunity to jump into Morgana's place on the sofa, so that he converse more easily with Gwen.

"So you guys are still on the lingering gaze stage huh?" she asked quietly as she washed out her glass with water.

Merlin grimaced as he stabbed the roast chicken unhappily with a fork.

"I don't think we're going to be going much further than that anyway," he uttered through clenched teeth, "Not now Kara is on the scene anyway."

Morgana had the common decency to look surprised at this statement, "The brown haired girl who I've seen around every now and again? Are they dating?"

He nodded glumly as the juices of the chicken ran clear, indicating he could let the bird rest for a while before serving.

"Are you sure?"

Merlin paused and considered this question, "Well she was all over him when I first saw them, holding his waist and his hand – "

"Yeah but me and Gwen fawn over you like that all the time, but it doesn't mean we're fucking does it?" she tittered impatiently, glancing behind her to make sure they weren't being overheard.

He had to laugh at her bluntness, but regardless he shook his head in disbelief, this wasn't some romance novel like Pride and Prejudice; there wasn't going to be some soppy reunion after a horrific misunderstanding.

He told Morgana as such, which earned him a quick whack over the head with a roll of kitchen towel.

She pursed her lips in determination as she poured wine into hers and Gwen's glasses, before she scooped them up ceremoniously and headed back over towards the rest of the group.

"Oh will you two leave Gwen alone? You're worse than a pair of lovesick puppies!"

Arthur and Lance scowled in unison at her as she approached and both evacuated their seats as she made to sit down.

She certainly knew how to clear a sofa.

"That reminds me," she declared airily, as she handed Gwen her glass of wine and turned round to face the table, "How're things going with your lady friend Mordred?"

Mordred flicked his gaze up from the newspaper he had been pouring over and frowned at her, "We're not dating," he corrected hurriedly.

Merlin did his best to carry on with the cooking, although hanging onto every word of the conversation.

To say he was confused was an understatement; they just had to be dating... didn't they?

Morgana did a good job of feigning surprise,

"Oh really? I just thought seeing as you were so chummy..."

Mordred flicked his gaze to the back of Merlin's head and a look of realisation seemed to linger over his face momentarily,

"We're friends, very good friends; I've known her for years... she's like my sister."

Merlin couldn't help feeling as though this was directed somewhat at him, but seeing as he was still refusing to turn around to become involved in the conversation, he carried on with the charade that he was really quite uninterested.

The reality of the situation however, was that his heart had swollen back into life for the first time for what felt like forever, although in actual fact it had barely been two weeks.

Sod that he barely knew him and nothing might even happen between them...

There was still a chance and he'd quite happily live with that hope.

The kitchen door swung open and Percy popped his head round.

"There's someone at the front door for you Arthur," he said with a grim expression, "It's the personal assistant of Valliant's father."

Arthur scowled to himself as he flipped his IPad shut and made to follow Percy into the hallway, puffing out his toned chest to appear business-like and carefully avoiding catching anyone's eye.

Gwen closed her laptop and looked at Morgana worriedly, "Valliant has definitely been expelled hasn't he?"

Morgana nodded silently as she stared at the door intensely, as though half expecting it to burst into flames.

They waited in silence as they all tried to decipher the muffled voices coming from the hallway. They could just about single out Arthur's haughty replies to the stranger, but as for the content of their discussion; well this was anyone's guess.

Finally Arthur re-entered the kitchen to find the rest of them staring at him expectantly.

"Well?" asked Morgana without delay.

Arthur swallowed thickly and held up an odd looking stone tablet with carved snakes etched onto the surface for them to see,

"He was here to apologise on behalf of Valliant for his recent actions," he said disbelievingly, "And he said they wanted me to have this as compensation or something?"

Mordred moved closer to get a better look at what Arthur was holding.

"He gave you a slab of stone?" clarified Lance blankly, as though he hardly believed his own eyes.

"Can I?" asked Mordred carefully, holding his hands out so as to have a hold of the tablet himself.

"Sure, knock yourself out," shrugged Arthur off-handedly, "As far as presents go, that was as disappointing as getting a pair of socks for Christmas..."

Mordred held the stone as though it were an extremely delicate child and slowly moved to the sofa where he sat down next to Gwen.

"Can I borrow your laptop quick?" he asked her, still scanning his cargo with unexplained awe.

Gwen blinked in surprise before flicking open the lid to her computer, "Yeah sure... why?"

"I just wanna check something quick..."

They all carried on with their own activities whilst Mordred tapped quickly and lightly across the keyboard, his eyes glinting with barely contained excitement.

Merlin was crouching down to check on the roast potatoes in the oven, when Gwen asked incredulously, "Medusa's Inheritance?"

He jumped up and rushed with the rest of them to look over Mordred's shoulder with interest.

"I knew I'd heard whispers of this before," gushed Mordred as he traced his fingers across the stone gently.

"Where the hell have you been listening?" asked Arthur amazedly as he squinted to try and read the small print on the webpage open on the laptop.

"History student remember?" replied Mordred sarcastically.

"Oh yeah..."

"It's said," he began quietly, reading the text out to them, "That before her death, Medusa cut out four snakes from her head and turned them into stone, so that should she ever be killed, a part of her might still live and one day pave the way for her return..."

"And you think this... stone, is meant to contain those snakes?" clarified Morgana disbelievingly.

"Of course not," scoffed Mordred, rolling his eyes, "But the point I'm getting at is this is an extremely valuable artefact of Greek mythology... priceless in fact..."

They all stared at the tablet in silence for a moment as they absorbed this latest piece of information.

"Why would Valliant's father give you such a valuable object just to apologise for his son being an arsehole?" questioned Merlin.

"I'm not sure..." replied Arthur, obviously deep in thought, "You'd have thought he'd be trying to hold onto his assets considering..."

"Considering what?" asked Lance,

"Don't worry about it," interrupted Morgana, glaring at her brother, "It's strictly confidential at the moment."

Gwen wrinkled her nose in distaste and turned her honey brown eyes around to the others, "Can you guys smell burning?"

Merlin panicked and raced to the oven.

"OH SHIT THE POTATOES!"

* * *

_Flashing lights surrounded him and the garbled sounds of screaming and laughter filled his ears. He was running frantically, feeling warm bodies push past him as he squeezed through the crowd of people. "Arthur!" he shouted, looking around wildly. He had to stop him, oh god he had to stop him now!_

"_He gave me no choice..."_

Merlin woke with a yelp and his vision flashed gold, causing his desk chair to topple to the floor with a crash.

He held his breath and strained his ears to check that no one had been disturbed by the noise.

The flat was silent and all he could hear was the frantic pounding of his own heart.

He'd had that dream again; surely that wasn't normal?

But no... this time there was something more, he could almost taste it in the air.

There was magic in the flat he could sense it.

He quietly climbed out of bed and switched on his bedside lamp.

Whatever it was, it was unlike anything he'd felt before.

He crept into the hallway using his phone as a light, wearing nothing but his boxers and a worn t-shirt and listened again intently.

Nothing.

But still he could _feel_ something wasn't right and it was coming from...

Arthur's room.

Well he couldn't leave now, especially after having that dream.

He'd just check he was alright then go back to bed.

He breezed up to Arthur's door and concentrated his magic,

"Ic ia tóspringe"

The lock sprang open with a click and Merlin tip-toed inside.

From the light cast by his phone he saw the stone tablet had been placed carefully onto a towel on the desk, no doubt after Arthur had learnt the truth about its potential value.

He shone the light towards the bed and saw Arthur was slumbering soundly, lying spread-eagled in just his boxers on top of his duvet.

Wow.

He shook his head and forced himself not to become too distracted by the other boys near naked state and quickly ran his gaze around the rest of the room.

Everything looked in order... but he was happy he'd checked; just in case.

He made a swift exit and locked the door behind him, before creeping quietly back towards his own room.

The door next to his opened gently and Mordred stepped out with bleary eyes, wearing a pair of shorts and a loose fitting vest.

"What are you doing?" he whispered, as Merlin almost died with fright.

"I thought I felt something coming from Arthur's room so I just went to check everything was okay," he breathed back.

He could just make out Mordred frowning in the dark, "I felt it too...I thought it might be you?"

Merlin shook his head before opening his door and heading inside where his lamp was still illuminating the room.

He sensed Mordred enter after him and couldn't help feeling a sense of exhilaration.

He'd missed this.

"Kara isn't my girlfriend," stated Mordred intensely, his pale eyes searching for Merlin's almost desperately.

Merlin blinked in surprise, "What? Oh... yeah I know."

"You've been avoiding me?" asked the other boy, although he could tell it was more of a statement than a question.

He swallowed as his mouth suddenly became dry,

"Yeah a bit," he admitted, feeling his cheeks flushing, "I thought that –"

"I know," interrupted Mordred, his mouth twitching slightly, "I figured it out when Morgana was interrogating me earlier."

They stood in the middle of the room without speaking for what felt like an eternity, just enjoying being along in each other's presence again.

"I've missed you," whispered Mordred quietly, causing Merlin's breath to hitch, "I've gone so long without having someone to share my abilities with and then when you started pulling away I –"

"I'm sorry," said Merlin shakily, grasping his hands together awkwardly, "I know it was childish but I panicked... I don't know..." he finished lamely.

Mordred choked out a laugh in response and smiled softly.

Merlin felt him reach out with his mind and brush carefully against his own.

He tensed slightly, as had become habit of late and he forced himself to relax and not try to block his thoughts.

He closed his eyes and allowed himself to immerse himself in their contact, revelling in the relief he gained from it; a sensation he could tell was closely mirrored by Mordred.

There were no words, as none were needed.

He lost track of how long they stood there together brushing against each other's mind, not making full contact, yet also not withdrawing either.

When he eventually opened his eyes, he found that Mordred had moved closer during their telepathic reunion and was now standing near enough for their noses to touch.

He still had his eyes closed, his dark eyelashes casting shadows over his defined cheekbones and his pale complexion wore an expression of undoubted contentment.

He watched the other boy for a moment, before acting on impulse.

He moved inwards and gently pressed his lips against Mordred's.

He felt him gasp softly at the contact, but he did not pull away. Instead he remained still, eyes still clenched shut as Merlin's kiss ghosted over his mouth.

When Merlin's nerve eventually ran out and he went to withdraw, Mordred suddenly grasped his arms with his hands, holding him in place and pushed their lips more firmly together.

_And where do you think you're going?_ He heard in his mind, causing him to grin into the kiss.

Their contact was gentle, yet no less powerful for the sake of it. He could taste the mint of Mordred's toothpaste on his breath and he clutched at his vest desperately as though trying somehow to get even nearer to him.

A startled yell from across the hall forced them to break apart, their breathing fast and needy.

They looked at each other in confusion, noses still touching gently, before Merlin moved his head away slightly, eyes blaring in alarm.

_Arthur!_


	15. Chapters will resume shortly! :D

Hey guys!

I'd just like to reassure you all that I will soon be resuming my writing of this story

I'm really sorry for the long break in chapters being published but I've been working my socks off on another hospital placement! Unfortunately my supervisor has been piling me with tonnes of work so I've been pretty limited with my leisure time as of late. However all of this work will come to an end in just over 2 weeks time and so I will be free to re-pick up my pen/keyboard and carry on with the story.

I've been making little notes of ideas and pockets of inspiration and so hopefully soon I can bring them to life for you all

Thanks everyone for your kind words and continued support – It means a lot!

Skypoint1

xx


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